One Short Day In The ALPHABET CITY?
by notEASYbeingGREEN
Summary: Edit: I'm back! Totally AU. Elphaba and Glinda planned a day in the Emerald City, but end up in the ALPHABET CITY? This is my first attempt at a crossover fic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I decided to re-write this story, since it was pretty bad before. Here's what's going on: Elphaba and Glinda are finishing their last year at Shiz University under a new headmistress (Morrible and the Wizard are not in this. They're dead. Heh.) Since Elphaba has the best grades in the class, she gets to choose a vacation place for her and a friend (Glinda). She chooses the Emerald City, but ends up in the Alphabet City.**

**Disclaimer: nothing belongs to me. Not in this fanfiction, anyway.**

**Oh, and thanks to mindreader208. Very helpful dude right there.**

Elphaba approached her new headmistress, and sorcery teacher, Madame Menzel (who had very similar cheekbones to herself). Both Madame Morrible and the Wizard had been discovered about a year ago, and Madame Morrible was quickly replaced.

Elphaba needed to give the new head a form that she was asked to fill out. She had been told that she was one of the best students of the grade, and was to be given a free trip to a place of her choosing. One person was allowed to accompany her.

"Hello, Madame Menzel," Elphaba said with a small smile, which the head returned. "You had asked me to fill this form out."

"Yes. I presume you have it with you?"

"Yes," Elphaba said, handing her the form, "here it is. I was wondering when said trip was going to take place?"

"Soon, dear," Madame Menzel replied. "Just as soon as your finals are over."

"Thank you."

Elphaba turned swiftly on her heel and walked back to her dorm. A few people turned their heads to look at her as she walked. _You would think, that after four years, they would stop,_ Elphaba thought to herself with a chuckle. _Ah well, I'll be away soon enough. _

She thought during the entire walk back to her room. She thought about how she was going to go to the Emerald City in less than a week while she walked past the schools' small pond. She thought about how she was going to be with one of her best friends, Glinda, for a whole week as she walked through the gates of the house where her room was located.

She walked inside, and there were ShenShen, Pfannee and Glinda talking about some girly thing or another. Glinda had convinced ShenShen and Pfannee that Elphaba was not bad, and after a while, they believed her. All three girls desperately wanted Elphaba to be with them in public, but, as always, she refused. She mainly stuck to the library, and Glinda would come visit every so often.

"Pfanee, Shensen, could I talk to Glinda for a few minutes?" Elphaba asked after she said hello. When the two did not move, Elphaba said, "I meant alone, you nitwits!" The girls laughed and Shenshen and Pfannee went outside. Glinda bounced on her bed, watching Elphaba.

"So, Elphie, do you have a secret that you would like to share with me?" Glinda asked playfully. She knew Elphaba did not tell secrets.

"No," Elphaba laughed, "and don't call me that. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it's perky."

"Well, what, then?" Glinda whined. "What do you have to say?"

"Whining will get you nowhere, my friend," Elphaba said, fully aware that Glinda wanted to know her big news more than anything for the time being. Glinda rolled her eyes, and when Elphaba did not continue, she pinched her. "OW! Pinching will get you nowhere - OW! Oh, fine, you win! Well, I was one of the best students in our class-"

"Oh, Sweet Lurline!" Glinda exclaimed. "I fail _one_ little sorcery test, and I never hear the end of it!"

"Glinda, that is not my point," Elphaba said calmly. "My point, is that I won a trip to a place of my choosing, and I am allowed to take one person with me."

"Who did you choose?" Glinda asked, completely unaware that it was her.

"Think about it." It took a few clock-ticks for Glinda to put two and two together.

"Oh, Elphaba, are you serious?!?" Glinda asked, getting up and embracing her friend quickly. She took out her suitcase from beneath her bed and began throwing in things like clothes, makeup, bathroom supplies, makeup, makeup and more makeup.

"Glinda, you do not even know where we are going," Elphaba said with a smile. It took another couple of clock-ticks for Glinda to comprehend that news.

"Oh, right," she said sheepishly. She blushed and gave Elphaba time to talk about where they were going (The Emerald City), how they were getting there (some new device called a "subway"), and how long they would be there (a week).

"Thank you for picking me!" Glinda exclaimed. "Now I get to miss finals!"

"No."

"Oh, poo."

"Goodnight, Glinda."

**A/N: hey, it's better already! I really need reviews for this one, so tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: okay, second chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked. Or Rent...yet...hehehehe**

One night, the night before her vacation, actually, Elphaba decided to pack her things. She put her oils into one section of her duffel bag, and some clothes, blankets and a pillow into another. She sorted through her dresser, and found an old green bottle. After some debating, she chucked it in the garbage.

Finals the following day were brutal. For Glinda, anyway. She would not stop complaining to Elphaba afterwards. The whole walk back to their room was either, "Did you get the same answer as me?" or "Sweet Lurline, I'm so scared of failing!" After about half of their walk, Elphaba stopped her.

"Listen, Glinda," she said calmly. Glinda turned to her friend. "You need to calm down, alright? We have a vacation coming up tomorrow. And you don't want to be stressed, do you?" Glinda shook her head and walked the rest of the way in silence.

Since the girls had to wake up early the following morning, they decided to sleep on their trip. So, they just merely stayed up all night. Elphaba spent the night reading her new book about Animal rights, which Madame Menzel had given her as a gift. She was actually quite interested in it, and ignored all of what Glinda was trying to tell her about fashion. Glinda was not too happy about that, and after a while, decided to give up and read Ozmopolitan.

At about 3:00 AM, the got their things and headed to Madame Menzel's room. They knocked quietly, as they did not want to wake the other teachers. She emerged soon afterward, with a tall, dark skinned man. (Have no fear, they were both fully dressed!)

"Oh, my," Glinda said as Elphaba picked up the book that she dropped. "Were we interrupting something?" Madame Menzel chuckled.

"Oh, heavens no," she said. "This is my husband, Doctor Diggs." Elphaba gasped and shook his hand.

"Oh, wow, so nice to meet you!" she gushed. "I've read so many of your books! They are just fabulous!" Doctor Diggs thanked her, and they started up a small conversation.

"Huh?" Glinda asked Madame Menzel. "You're married?"

"Yes, I am, Glinda," Madame Menzel giggled. "Just last month. What do you think of the ring?" She held her hand out to reveal a diamond the size of a glacier. Glinda gasped.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Glinda squealed, causing Elphaba and Doctor Diggs to look up abruptly from their conversation. Apparently, the two girls had forgotten about their vacation, as they were absorbed in talking to their teacher and her husband.

"So, Elphaba," Doctor Diggs said, "could you tell me why you rang my bell at three-thirty in the morning?" Elphaba slapped her hand to her forehead, shaking her head.

"Yes, I'm so sorry," she said, blushing a dark shade of green. "I won a vacation, and Madame Menzel was going to see that I got to the train safely with Glinda. Again, I'm so sorry."

"Quite alright. I had a nice time talking to you!" Doctor Diggs told her, and she blushed a darker shade of green. "I wish my wife was as interested in Animal rights as you. If you don't mind, would you care to meet again? Perhaps for tea sometime?" Elphaba's jaw dropped.

"Oh, Sweet Lurline, are you joking?" she asked after she pulled her jaw up. "You want to talk with _me?"_ Doctor Diggs nodded, and Elphaba smiled. "Well, then, yes. I would love to." Doctor Diggs shook her hand one last time, said goodnight, and went back to bed. Elphaba walked over to Glinda and Madame Menzel, and cleared her throat loudly.

"When are we leaving?" she asked, "And could you explain to me what a subway is? I mean, I have looked it up countless times at the library, but could not find a single thing about it! And when I asked the librarian, she laughed in my face!"

Madame Menzel shrugged. "Oh, it's basically the same thing as a train," she said, "only it goes a lot faster, it's underground, and it's a lot less comfortable."

"Great," Elphaba mumbled as they began to walk. Glinda and Madame Menzel were comfortably talking about the wedding dress that Madame Menzel had, while, as usual, Elphaba felt out of place. When they came to the stop, they climbed down stairs, said goodbyes to Madame Menzel, and stepped onto the train.

"Glinda, what would you like to do when we get to the city?" Elphaba asked. She was completely unaware that Glinda was asleep in the seat next to her own. "I mean, we could visit museums, libraries, there are just so many - Glinda Upland, are you listening to me?"

"Huh, whawha?" Glinda mumbled. "Oh, Elphie, can we talk later? I want to sleep!"

"Fine. I'll wake you when we arrive." Elphaba sat and read her book that Doctor Diggs had lent her. When she heard a scraggly voice over an intercom say something about a stop in the city, she gently shook Glinda awake. She grabbed both of their bags and rushed off the train before the doors closed.

"Oh my," Glinda said, pinching her nose. To Glinda, it smelled worse than a horse at the station they were standing in. "It had better smell nicer when we walk up those stairs!" The two girls quickly ran up the stairs as fast as their legs would carry them. When they looked around, they did not see their vacation spot anywhere.

"Sweet Oz," Elphaba said. "This is definitely _not_ the friggin' Emerald City!"

"Of course it isn't, you idiot," Glinda hissed, obviously terrified by her new and unfamiliar surroundings. The girls saw dirty sidewalks plastered with homeless people. Some were shivering and alone, while others were talking quietly in groups. Across the street, Elphaba spotted a place called the CatScratch club. Judging by the silhouettes of various feminine figures amongst the letters on the awning, Elphaba realized immediately what the place was. She then made the mistake of pointing it out to Glinda.

"Elphaba, it's a pet shop?" Glinda asked excitedly, and made her way across the street. Just as the blond stepped on the opposite sidewalk, the street light turned green, leaving Elphaba to watch her friend walk straight into a strip club.


	3. Chapter 3

**third chapter. **

**Disclaimer: not mine.**

Elphaba waited impatiently for the traffic light to change. In the meantime, she tried to take in her surroundings while being as unnoticed as possible. She pulled her hooded cloak on, burying her face in it and looking at the ground. She was unsure of how people would react to her skin in this place. In Oz, it took four _years_ for some people to get used to her. The cars in the street jerked to a stop as the light turned from green to red. This was Elphaba's cue to sprint across the street.

She went up to the club, eyeing it from various angles. The guards outside were drunk, so they let Elphaba in free of charge. They did not even notice her. On the inside, there were even more drunk men, and a lot of "exotic dancers" on a stage. Elphaba entered and took in the scent of alcohol mixed with cologne and perfume. She coughed quietly, walking around in search of Glinda. Eventually she found the blond, huddled in a corner.

"Glinda," Elphaba whispered loudly. Glinda looked up, relieved to see Elphaba there. "What happened to you? How could you get lost in here?"

"Oh, Elphaba, it was horrible!" Glinda croaked. "I stepped inside, thinking that there were kittens for sale, so I asked a man where to find one. He just pushed me, then other men started to push me, and I ended up in this corner! Thank Oz you're here!" Elphaba embraced her friend, and then pulled her up onto her feet.

"Let's just go," she said. She lead Glinda through the crowd, but the lead dancer caught sight of the two girls. Elphaba kept her eyes down, not noticing the glint in the dancer's eyes, or when Glinda was pulled onto the stage. Only when she heard the blond's shrieks did she know something was wrong.

"_ELPHABA!"_ Glinda cried. Elphaba whipped her head up to see a very distressed Glinda. She was up on the stage, and the lead dancer had her handcuffed to a chair. She was slowly grinding their hips together, and Elphaba's eyes widened. She felt a deep lurch in the bottom of her stomach, and she knew what was going to happen next.

"Formah, toldeh, formah, toldeh, elekah nahmen, formah toldeh!" she shouted uncontrollably. Everyone but the dancer, Glinda and herself froze. The dancer onstage screamed and backed away from Glinda, looking down. Elphaba ran onto the stage, took the Glinda out of the chair and gave her a comforting hug. Like she used to do for Nessa, she stepped in front of Glinda to protect her.

"What was that for?" Elphaba asked the dancer in a deep, threatening voice. "Why did you do that?"

"I should be asking you the same question!" the dancer shrieked, backing away slowly. "You just...you just...look at what you did to all those guys! And the dancers! How did you do that? And why the hell do you have green makeup on? Halloween isn't for another couple of weeks!"

"I don't have makeup on," Elphaba mumbled. "And I froze those men because of what _you_ did to my friend!"

"Goddamit, it's my job," the dancer mumbled. "Listen, I'm getting out of here. Just make sure to unfreeze all of these men when you leave, alright, Greenie?" Elphaba flinched at that comment, but nodded. She turned away from the dancer and pulled Glinda through the club, the green hand holding the peach one. Ephaba found herself a small corner and sat down in it, closing her eyes. She began chanting softly under her breath, trying to relax enough to undo the freezing spell.

"Oh, God, what's she doing now?" the dancer mumbled. She ran over to Elphaba to see what she was up to. When she was about to tap her on the shoulder, a hand cut her off. It was Glinda's.

"Don't touch her," Glinda said quietly, but sincerely. The dancer looked down at Glinda. She saw a small girl with a face set in stone. "You can't interrupt her when she's doing that. Do you understand?" The dancer nodded. She slipped a pear of sweatpants and a tank top on over her dancing outfit, then a cheetah-print coat. Elphaba opened her eyes and all of the men began cheering and drinking again.

"Come, Glinda, let's go," Elphaba said. She took the blond's hand again, pulling her cloak over her head. Glinda quickly followed, not looking back once. So neither of them saw the dancer following them out of the club.

"Elphaba, we don't have anywhere to go!" Glinda whimpered. She began to cry, and Elphaba gave her a hug. She murmured comforting things in Glinda's ear, such as "Everything will be fine," and "We can get through this! We're unlimited, remember?" After a few minutes, they both pulled away.

"Glinda, how about we go into that alley over there?" Elphaba said. "It can be a hiding spot for the time being, and we can try to contact Madame Menzel. Come." Elphaba began to lead her friend away, but stopped when she heard a voice call her name.

Shit.

"_WAIT! ELPHABA!" _someone called from behind them. It was the dancer. Elphaba sighed and stepped in front of Glinda again. She glared at the dancer with a look that could kill. The dancer was unaffected. She just placed her hands on her hips.

"Listen, Elphaba, I wouldn't go in there if I were you." This got Glinda's attention.

"How do you know her name?" she asked. The dancer blushed and mumbled something that was not understandable.

"Could you speak up, please?" Elphaba asked rudely. "How do you know my name, you whore?"

"Don't you call me that, Greenie," the dancer snapped. "And I know your name because, uh, Ifollowedyououtoftheclub."

"One more time, slut."

"I said, that I followed you out of the fucking club!" the dancer screamed. "You looked so stupid with that green makeup on. I was sure you were going to get raped, or something. So I decided to follow you. And the one thing that you _don't_ do in the Alphabet City is walk into an alley at _midnight!"_

"That's the only reason you followed us?" Elphaba asked quietly. "Because you wanted to help us? Or you were curious about my skin?" The dancer blushed. "I thought so."

"For the love of God, why are you green?" The dancer asked after a long silence. "I mean, come on, it's like you're Margaret Hamilton, or something." Elphaba had never heard that name, and she shared a confused look with Glinda. But the dancer was not done. She pointed at Glinda and said, "And you, with that skimpy little dress? You'll totally get mugged. Seriously, find a hotel, or something. Although on any other occasion, that dress is so cute." Glinda's face brightened.

"Really? You think?" she asked the dancer. They began talking about some girly gossip thing, just as Glinda did with her other friends. Elphaba rolled her eyes, and managed to pick up the dancer's name: Mimi Marquez.

"Oh my God, Glinda, you have got to lend it to me!" Mimi squealed. This was after Glinda had told her about a shirt that she had bought at the Emerald City a few years back. Mimi seemed to like it, which Glinda thought was a very good thing. After a while, Elphaba felt like she was going to explode if she heard another word that had anything to do with fashion. She pulled Glinda aside.

"Are you becoming friends with her?" Glinda nodded.

"That's good! Ask her to give us a place to stay! You've only been talking for _two fucking hours!"_

"Has it been that long, really?" Glinda asked, looking at her watch. She gasped and hurried to Mimi. After some talking, Elphaba saw Mimi beckon her over. Elphaba walked as slowly as possible to the dancer.

"You have to explain some things to me first," Mimi demanded. "One: why you're green. Two: where you're from, and Three: where you got your bag. I like it."

"I got the bag at a small shop near my home, which is at a college called Shiz." Mimi gave her a quizzical look. "Shiz is in Oz." Mimi burst out laughing. When she saw that Elphaba wasn't laughing along with her, she stopped.

"You're from _Oz?"_ she snickered. "Prove it." Elphaba rolled her eyes and took out her broom. She got on and flew onto a rooftop after looking to make sure that they were the only three on the street. Once she flew back down, Mimi had wide eyes.

"I'm not being Punk'd, am I?" Elphaba shook her head. For affect, she rode around Mimi on the broom, making the small dancer dizzy. "Alright, alright, I believe you! That, or the bartender put something in my drink. And now, why are you green?"

"I, uh, have a skin disorder," Elphaba said quickly. When Glinda was about to protest, Elphaba elbowed her in the ribs. That got her quiet.

"Well, okay, you can stay with us for a few days, I guess," Mimi said. "But only if Glinda lends me that top she was talking about earlier."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: fourth chapter, people!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, unfortunately.**

Mimi and Glinda chattered on and on about various things on their walk back to the loft. Elphaba studied her surroundings - or what she could see - from under her hooded cloak. Which wasn't much. By the time they all reached the loft, Mimi had obtained three colors of lipstick, Glinda got herself some blush, and Elphaba established that the ground in this place was filthy.

Elphaba pulled ahead on the walk up the stairs. That had to be some sort of miracle, as she was carrying Glinda's suitcase, her duffel bag, and - for some strange reason - Mimi's purse. She stopped in front of the door and waited. Mimi and Glinda came up soon afterwards, arms linked. Elphaba rolled her eyes at two things. One was the ridiculous friendship between the two girls, and the other was the fact that Mimi was looking for her purse.

"Hey, Glinda?" Mimi asked, checking her coat pockets. "Have you seen my bag?" Glinda looked around, and eventually met eyes with Elphaba. When the blond saw the glint in the girl's eyes, she knew where the purse was. Elphaba reluctantly handed it over, and Mimi fumbled with the bag, looking for her keys.

Elphaba was pretty good at being patient. She took care of Nessarose, which took patience. She put up with Madame Morrible, which took a _lot_ of patience. But when she was close to water, she was not patient. A clap of thunder made Elphaba jump, and become very impatient. When she realized that Mimi may not find her keys for quite some time, she pushed the door open. It was unlocked.

Mimi blushed and led them in. Glinda looked around, occasionally picking something up, just to put it down again. Finally, she looked over at Mimi. "You know, you live in a shit hole." Elphaba gasped. She took Glinda aside and scolded her while Mimi watched with a smirk on her face. Once the girls were done, Glinda mumbled an apology and looked down.

"Now, where are you guys going to sleep?" Mimi asked, more to herself than Glinda or Elphaba. "Fuck, we don't have _anything."_

"Just, uh, hmmm," Elphaba tried to supply an idea, but, for once, didn't have one. "I guess I could sleep on the floor. Yeah. I'll do that." Mimi shook her head firmly.

"No one's sleeping on the floor," she said. She thought for a minute and sat down on the coffee table. She looked around, and her eyes rested on the couch. She stood up and pointed at the couch. "There's your bed!" Glinda tsk-tsked.

"No, no, no, Mimi. I can't sleep on _that!"_ She shook her head and laughed. "I need a soft, fluffy bed. Do you have one in pink?" Elphaba rolled her eyes and pulled Glinda aside to scold again. This time, she was under a giant hole in the ceiling that was loosely covered in plastic. As she was disciplining Glinda, a drop of water fell onto her neck. She bit her lip and Mimi saw the drop form into what looked like a burn.

"Good God, are you the Wicked Witch of the West??" Mimi asked. Elphaba shot her a dirty look, as if to say, _duh._ Mimi quieted down, still not fully clued in on the situation. But she didn't complain, she just watched Elphaba set up Glinda's bed. Once it was all done, Elphaba pointed to it.

"Go to sleep, you had a long day," she said, and Glinda pouted.

"But I have no puffy pink bed!" she whined. She quieted down when she saw Elphaba's eyes. The look could kill. "I'm not even tired!" Elphaba just pointed to the bed again, and Glinda plopped down on it. The second her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep. Elphaba put a blanket over her, and turned around. She saw Mimi staring at her.

"Alright, she's asleep," Mimi said. "Tell me what's up with you. Why are you the way you are? And don't give me skin disease. I didn't fall for it then, I'm not falling for it now."

Elphaba sighed. Why would she explain her life story to someone she didn't even know? The girl seemed like someone she could trust for about five minutes, then would tell the world her story. She did _not_ want that to happen. "You know, I don't think that you have the right to know all that much about me."

"And why not?" Mimi fired back, not missing a beat. She didn't nearly reach Elphaba's height, but didn't back down. "You're staying at my house, I think I should know something about my house guest! Like why you're allergic to water like that?" Elphaba brought her hand to her burn, and quickly pulled it away. The skin was very sensitive. "Oh, God, do you want something for that?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Elphaba mumbled. She liked that the dancer's spunky personality. She knew what she wanted to do. "But, I honestly don't know why I'm allergic to water. I was just born that way." Mimi nodded, suddenly interested. She sat down at their table, and Elphaba followed. With a lot of coaxing, Mimi managed to get Elphaba to tell some things about herself. They stayed up well into the night, Mimi doing most of the talking, and Elphaba yawning occasionally.

Finally, at around 2:00(AM), Elphaba decided that she should get some rest. She laid a blanket down on the floor, ready to sleep. Before she drifted off into slumber, she heard Mimi say a faint goodnight, which Elphaba was too tired to return.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: chapter five. And, yeah, Angel lives. Because Angel is just the best.**

**Disclaimer: no.**

Elphaba woke up the following morning with a harsh pain in her neck. She got up, and her back cracked. She moaned and rubbed it. Sleeping on the floor did her no good, and she didn't get much sleep, anyway. She stayed up talking to that girl, Mimi. Elphaba moaned again, realizing that she probably talked more than she should have.

She stood up and hovered over Glinda for a minute. She fixed the blanket, fluffed the pillow, and turned to sit on a chair. She put her head in her hands, trying to think straight. What had she said last night? Did Mimi believe her? What was she going to do? She had less than a week to figure out how to contact Madame Menzel and get out of this place. And what about Glinda being friends with Mimi?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a door open and close. A groggy-looking man stepped out of a room. He had on crooked glasses, a white T-shirt, and sweat pants. His blond hair was messed up, and some of it pointed upwards. Overall, he looked like a complete mess to Elphaba. This made her look at her own appearance. Her clothes were askew, her hair was knotty, and she wasn't even wearing her glasses. When they both managed to realize that they were in each other's company, they gasped.

"Oh, God, Maureen," the strange man said to Elphaba. "You scared the shit out of me. Why are you here this early?" He went over to Elphaba and gave her a hug. She didn't expect this, so she pushed him away. He stumbled back, still half-asleep, and slammed into a wall. It was the wall that connected the dancer's room to the room that she was standing in, so Mimi also walked out groggily. When she realized the situation, she immediately woke up more.

"Elphaba, don't beat him up, he's harmless," she said, helping the man to his feet. "His name is Mark, and he lives here." Mark finally took a look at Elphaba. She had wide, alert eyes, and when she smiled slightly at him, he noticed it was a beautiful smile.

"Wow, Elphaba," he said, before he could stop himself, "hi. Hi, I'm Mark. Well, I guess Mimi just told you that, but, uh, hi." Elphaba laughed. He reminded her of herself: gawky, too talkative and shy. And when Elphaba liked something, she would do anything to get it. Mark assumed that she was laughing at him, so he blushed furiously. She stuck her hand out, and too his surprise, he shook it.

"Hi, Mark," Elphaba said quietly. "I'm Elphaba. And, wow, hey, Mimi just said that, too. And you don't care that I'm green?" Mark shook his head and laughed, and Elphaba laughed along with him. He went to make some coffee, and after a couple of minutes, the smell drew Elphaba to the kitchen area. She helped him prepare it, and once in a while, their hands would touch. Mimi noticed that the hand-touches became more and more frequent, and she thought it was cute.

And then, of course, Roger woke up. He stumbled out of the room, screamed at the sight of a girl asleep on the couch and a green girl making coffee, and went over to Mimi. She told Elphaba his name, then sat him down and explained everything about Elphaba and Glinda. He snorted.

"Bullshit," he said, and went over to Elphaba. He grabbed her hand and tried to wipe off the green with water. She slapped him across the face and pulled away.

"IF YOU _EVER_ TOUCH ME AGAIN," she screamed, "I WILL PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT YOU DIE AND GO TO _HELL_ WITHIN THE HOUR!" The water had taken its effect on Elphaba's hand. A large cut had formed, and blood was about to pour out. She went to the kitchen sink and placed her hand over it, being careful to get most of the blood over the drain. Once the cut had stopped bleeding, she went to her bag and got a blouse. She wrapped it around the cut and Roger and Mark watched in awe.

"Holy shit, am I being Punk'd?" Roger asked. Mimi shook her head, and Mark rolled his eyes and went over to help Elphaba. He ripped off a piece of one of his shirts, then took Elphaba's "bandage" away. She tried to pull away, but Mark was determined to help her. He tied the shirt all the way around her cut, and her hand was bandaged nicely.

"Why did that happen when water touched you?" he asked. Elphaba sighed. She might as well explain. She sat the everyone down at the table, and began to talk to them. She told stories of how she was treated as a child, how she went to Shiz, and how she ended up here. When she was done, Roger let out a low whistle.

"Wow," he said. "Some life story. Your father sounds like a big ass." He realized how bad that probably sounded, then tried to cover it up. Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "He really was an ass. I don't talk to him anymore." Roger nodded. They all did. None of them (except Mark) talked to their parents. "So, um, you guys kept calling me Maureen. Who's that?"

Mimi took the liberty of explaining Maureen, the drama queen, to Elphaba. She talked about Maureen's protests, how she left Mark for a woman (Elphaba inferred that Mark was single), and how she was _really loud. _Roger decided to add that her girlfriend was Joanne, a lawyer. Then Mark supplied that Benny was their landlord, and former friend. Mimi mentioned Angel and Collins, and how Angel was a drag queen. Elphaba really didn't care about sexual preferences. At all. The three bohemians decided that she would make a fine friend, and Elphaba decided the same.

They were all talking, and then the phone ring. They ignored it and screened the call.

_SPEAK!_

"Hey, guys, it's Maureen!" a chirpy voice said from the other line. Elphaba heard the name Maureen, and got up to answer the phone. The bohemians exchanged nervous glances, and hoped that Elphaba wouldn't piss Maureen off in any way.

"Hello?...No, you're not hearing an echo...No, this is not a joke,...Yes, it's the right number, if you're looking for Mark, Roger and Mimi...I know Mimi a bit...I met her at the CatScratch Club...I am most certainly not a lesbian!...No, there's nothing wrong with being a lesbian...I know that!...No, you don't know me...Just please come over to Mimi's apartment...Yes, I'll be here...No, I'm not a stalker!...Sure, I'll tell them...Okay, then...Goodbye." Elphaba hung up the phone and went back to sit with the bohemians.

"Maureen says hi," she said. "Now, where were we? Roger, you said that-" Mimi shook her head, and Elphaba shut her mouth. "What?" Mark looked her in the eyes.

"You invited Maureen over?" he asked, and she nodded slowly. "Oh, God, Elphaba, that was not a smart idea. Do you have any idea what she's going to do when she sees you?" Elphaba snorted.

"Make fun of my skin color?" she asked bitterly.

"No," Mimi said seriously. "You two, like, look exactly alike. She'll scream when she sees you. Or she'll think she has an identical green twin." Elphaba chuckled. She got up, tripped over he chair, and fell to the ground with a loud thud. She blushed, and Mark helped her up. They didn't let each other's hands go once Elphaba was standing.

"I'm a klutz," she said simply, "and will probably destroy most of your house while I'm here." The bohemians laughed loudly, which woke Glinda up. She stirred, stood up, and saw Elphaba holding hands with a strange man, and screamed.

"Glinda, what's wrong?"

"Elphaba, you've got some explaining to do..."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Enjoy this chapter! Especially tell me what you think of the ending...i don't like it too much. Ah well, read!  
**

**Disclaimer: not mine. At all. Well, in dreams. But that's it.**

"Explaining?" Elphaba was confused. Glinda had woken up and screamed over absolutely nothing. She also said that Elphaba had to explain something, but what? "Glinda, what are you talking about?" Glinda just wordlessly shook her head. She got up and rubbed some of the sleep out of her eyes, then went to sit next to Mimi.

"Elphaba, look at you." She gestured towards the hand-holding with Mark. Elphaba and Mark looked down and pulled away. They both blushed and sat down. Roger and Mimi made various cat-calls, and Elphaba shot them a look that said Shut up, or I'll kill you. Elphaba went over to Glinda and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Glinda, I do not have to explain anything," she said, much to her own disappointment. And did she see Mark frown a bit when she said that? "He had just helped me up when you woke up. I tripped and fell, and those two," she pointed at Roger and Mimi, "were laughing at me." Glinda still looked confused.

"But, wait," she said. "I know Mimi. Who are these men?" She looked at Mark, then at Roger. A hint of fear was visible in her eyes. Elphaba realized this, and made proper introductions. Glinda nodded her hello, then went into the other room with Mimi. When she came back, she looked just like any random person in the Alphabet City would: Mimi had lent her a pair of pink sweatpants and a white tank top. She had a pullover sweatshirt on, and her hair was in a messy bun. Mimi offered Elphaba a makeover, but she declined.

"I am perfectly fine with the way I look," she stated. She had changed into black army boots, black cargo pants, and a black short-sleeved shirt. Her hair was in a tight braid, and her glasses rested on her nose. Mimi shrugged and started a conversation. Mark and Elphaba talked the most: and Mimi managed to over hear a few words, like "I didn't mean it," and "We'll talk tonight," or even a giggle or two coming from Elphaba.

Once they had been talking for about ten minutes, there came a knock on the door. "Hey, you guys! Open up, it's me! Maureen!" Everyone fell silent. No one moved. The banging became louder. "You guys! Open the fucking door!" Again, no one made a sound. Mark stole a glance at Elphaba, and she had a curious expression on her face. "That's it, you motherfuckers! I'm coming in!" Maureen flew in, wearing her famous leather pants and denim jacket. She took the jacket off and threw it on a chair. She went straight for the bathroom, passing Elphaba. Everyone was silent as they heard the door close.

As quickly as she went in, Maureen came out of the bathroom. She slowly went over to Elphaba and looked her in the eyes. "Holy shit. Am I being Punk'd? Who the hell are you?" Elphaba looked just as taken aback with Maureen. She stood up, and towered about five inches over the diva.

"Who the hell am I?" she asked, looking down at Maureen with curious eyes. She stood back to get a full view of her. "Who the hell are you? And why do you look so much like me?"

"I'm Maureen Johnson. Duh, you should totally know who I am." Maureen's attitude had started to kick in. Elphaba snorted at her attempt to be snobbish, and that just angered Maureen. "And I don't look like you, dude! God, that would be so nasty. I mean, come on, you're a green freak! You look like I did last time I had the stomach flu!" (A/N: reviewer dude "the pixess" gave me the idea for that line. So thanx, dude.)

Elphaba flared her nostrils. She hated the green comments. "What is your problem? So what if I'm green? Why is it any of your business?" This threw Maureen off. Was it really any of her business? 

"Well, uh, it's just that, um," Maureen stuttered. Elphaba threw her head back and a devilish cackle escaped her lips. This startled everyone but Glinda.

"I thought so," Elphaba hissed. She sat down next to Mark and crossed her legs, Indian style. "So, Maureen, what do you do for a living? I hear you write and perform your own stupid protests? Boy, I bet that brings in a whole lot of money." Everyone gasped.

See, Maureen could handle arguing with someone. She could handle if someone insulted her sexuality. She could handle if someone made fun of her unique sense of style (which rarely happened). But if someone insulted her protests, she got hurt.

Maureen broke her gaze with Elphaba and looked to the floor. Pretty soon, she sat down on her knees. Next, she put her hands up to her eyes. Soon, everyone heard sniffles here and there. Mark, being the nice guy he was, got up and stood Maureen on her feet. She buried her face in his neck and cried. Elphaba watched wordlessly. Did she feel a bit of jealousy towards that woman? And, oh God, guilt?

"Um, Maureen?" Elphaba asked awkwardly. The diva looked up and everyone saw that her eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks (and Mark's neck) were stained with tears. Elphaba sighed. "Oh, God, um, okay. I don't really do this often, but uh, well, I guess I just wanted to say, huh. Okay, I'm sorry. From what these guys have told me, your protests sound ... interesting." Maureen smiled. She slipped away from Mark and sat down.

She shrugged. "That's alright. I don't apologize much either, but I'm sorry too." Elphaba nodded. "Did you know that I'm a lesbian?" Elphaba cackled again. She nodded, and Maureen pouted.

"And why are you pouting?" Roger asked. He was strangely quiet through this whole thing, and finally spoke up. Maureen looked at Elphaba, who was sitting quietly, also waiting for an answer.

Oh, I just wanted to see if she was a homophobe," Maureen said. Mark shook his head and laughed along with the others. Glinda scratched her nose. Maureen looked over at Elphaba, finally taking a good look. Maureen established that she couldn't be over twenty. She did have beautiful facial features, and the glasses made her look pretty smart. Although she could do without the black. And was she flirting with Mark? Right on Green Kid! Maureen thought to herself.

Maureen hadn't gone to the bathroom before, so she excused herself and went now. Then Joanne walked in. She looked over at Elphaba, thinking she was Maureen, and gave her a huge kiss on the lips. Elphaba screamed, Maureen came out of the bathroom and screamed, and Joanne looked confused.

"Good God, Maureen, I think that you've driven me to insanity," the lawyer said, looking from Maureen, to Elphaba, back to Maureen. "There are two of you now?" Maureen walked over to her girlfriend and sat her down.

"It's me, Pookie," she said. She gave her girlfriend a tender kiss on the lips, and the lawyer was happy for the time being. When they broke apart, Elphaba was furiously wiping at her mouth. Joanne smirked.

"Never kissed another woman before?" she asked the green girl. Elphaba looked up at her and smirked right back.

"No, I have," she said, much to Glinda's surprise. "I just don't know you." Joanne didn't know what to say, which Elphaba found fairly amusing. A silence fell over the group, and Joanne finally broke it.

"Would someone care to explain this girl to me?" she asked. She glanced over at Elphaba who stuck up the middle finger. Joanne stuck it up right back, and Elphaba raised an eyebrow. She dug in her duffel bag and got a book. She then sat down on the couch and pulled a blanket around her. She opened up the book and began to read. "Hey, Elphaba?" the Latina asked. Elphaba poked her head out of her book and raised her eyebrows, as if to say _What the fuck do you want? I was reading!_ "Don't you give me that look! Tell Joanne about yourself." Maureen nudged the dancer. "And Maureen." Elphaba put her nose back in her book and Glinda sighed.Mimi rolled her eyes.

"You know, you're so impossible!" she said. Elphaba didn't budge, which made Glinda angry. She went over to her friend and tugged on her sleeve, something that Elphaba couldn't stand. Elphaba just hit her on the shoulder, and she went back to sit next to Mimi.

Next, Joanne tried to persuade Elphaba to talk in her lawyer voice. Which can emotionally scar a person for life. Elphaba still stayed on the couch. Maureen whined, Mimi coaxed, and Roger yelled. After about two minutes of this, Mark stopped them.

"GUYS!" he cried. They all turned to look at the blushing cameraman. "Just leave her alone! Come on, she doesn't have to tell everything about herself right this minute. Give her time." Elphaba looked up. She put her book down and strode over to Mark. For reasons unknown to man, she plopped down in a seat next to him.

"What do you want to know?" she asked Joanne. "And what's your name? Like, Pookie, or something?" Maureen scowled as the others laughed. Elphaba looked around, confused. "What? That's what little miss drama queen called her!" Joanne finished laughing and grabbed Maureen's hand to calm her down. Elphaba still looked confused

"My name is Joanne Jefferson," Joanne said calmly. "I'm a lawyer. And Maureen's girlfriend." Elphaba shook her hand. "I'm also just about the only sensible one in this family."

_Not_ _if I'm here_, Elphaba thought to herself. She looked at Mark, and he seemed to be thinking the same thing. Under the table, he hooked his foot around hers. She gasped quietly, and Glinda looked at her.

Hiccup. Sorry," Elphaba lied coolly. "Anyway, Joanne, my name's Elphaba Thropp. I was born green, and do not consume seaweed on a daily basis." Elphaba looked to see Joanne's expression, but it didn't change. "And I'm from Oz." That triggered something.

"Oz?" Joanne asked. "Am I being Punk'd?" Elphaba rolled her eyes. She stuck out a hand, pointed it directly at Maureen, and the diva started to float. She shrieked and begged Elphaba to put her down. The green girl turned to Joanne, and the lawyer's mouth was open. "You're from Oz. Or I'm high."

Elphaba shook her head, and told her tale again. When she was done, Joanne just shook her head. Maureen giggled at how surprised the lawyer was, and Glinda was nearly asleep. She had heard the story too many times already.

There was a light conversation afterwards. Glinda mainly talked to Mimi and Roger, and Maureen and Joanne were also talking quite a bit about the lawyer kissing Elphaba. But the green girl was off in her own little world, mainly focusing on Mark's hand, which had made its way over to her own.

**A/N: GAH! I know this is more on the rent-ish side, but I just saw it! On broadway! And my friend plays bass, so me and my friends got to meet everyone, and talk and everything! God, it was surreal! Anyhoodles, R&R! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: read and review, you guys!.**

**Disclaimer: Wicked and Rent aren't mine. Gah, not fair!**

**Another A/N: Separated into sort of mini-chapters. Same day, different conversations between different characters. Enjoy!**

Later that day, Collins and Angel came to the loft. Angel loved Elphaba's outfit, and tried to ask her about it. Thankfully, Mimi stopped the drummer before anything bad could happen. Glinda volunteered to tell the two hers and Elphaba's story, and so they went to sit at the small table/counter in the kitchen area.

"So, Glinda, you single?" Collins asked. He found the little blond kid funny. Angel gasped playfully, and Collins snaked an arm around her waist. She giggled, and Glinda found it sweet.

"If you don't mind me asking, Angel," Glinda began. Angel got worried that she was going to ask something about why she dressed like a woman. Collins saw the worried look on his lover's face, and he grabbed her hand reassuringly. "I would like to know-" Angel shut her eyes "-where you got your shirt? It's amazing!" Angel breathed a sigh of relief. She began to tell Glinda all about how she designed her own clothes, and the three fell into a comfortable conversation. Although Angel did most of the talking.

xXxXxXx

Joanne was quietly comforting to Maureen. The drama queen was very worked up about Elphaba. She was scared that Elphaba made her float. She also thought that she could have some psycho twin who enjoyed to paint herself green. Joanne had a gut feeling that Elphaba was real, and really from Oz, even if those thoughts were seriously putting her sanity on the line. Maureen was cuddled on the couch with the lawyer, who was holding her tight.

"Momo, baby, calm down, alright?" Joanne said to her girlfriend. Maureen was shaking violently, and sobs were escaping her lips now and again. "Come on, Honeybear, it's okay. It's okay. Shhhh, it's okay." Maureen grasped the lawyer's hand.

"Oh God, Joanne," Maureen whispered shakily. "I didn't even realize how scary it was. She...how did she do that?" She paused for a moment, then felt her stomach lurch. "Oh, God, Joanne, I think that I'm..." Maureen got up and bolted to the bathroom. She pulled her hair back and emptied her stomach into the toilet. After puking up about half of her stomach, she felt a comforting hand rub her back, and when she was done, she looked up. The hand was Glinda's.

"I know that you probably weren't expecting to see me here," she said sheepishly. Maureen just looked at her. "Well, I mean, Collins and Angel started kissing, and they do it all gross, and then I heard you coming in here." Maureen smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Glinda," she said. She got up and rinsed out her mouth. Once she was done, she turned to look at the small blond girl. "I guess I didn't really realize how creepy that was until after it happened. I mean, it was like a roller-coaster, you know? You go up, then you come down. Once I started to really think about it, she just did it! She pointed, then BAM! I was up in the air! God, it was so scary. Wait, you know what I'm talking about, right?" Glinda nodded.

"The first time that I got it done to me at home was scary, too," she said. She went on to explain the day Doctor Dillamond, their professor (also a goat), got taken away. Elphaba had gotten so mad that she made all of her classmates dance around crazily. This cheered Maureen up, and she went back outside. She settled next to Joanne who began running her fingers through Maureen's hair.

"You okay, Babe?" the lawyer asked. "I was about to come in when the small blond-"

"Glinda."

"-ran in to help you," she finished. Maureen nodded, and the girls sat in silence for a bit, just enjoying each other's company. Joanne kept running her fingers through Maureen's hair, causing a moan to escape her lips. Joanne stopped and looked at the diva.

"What?"

"Can you not do that?" she whined. "I just puked."

"So?"

"It turns me on."

xXxXxXx

Roger was talking in a hushed tone to Mark. The two men were sitting quietly in Mark's room. Roger had realized that Mark did _something_ out there that involved the green girl, but he didn't know what. Mark just kept blushing and denying that, but Roger was persistent.

"Mark, we've known each other since the fucking fourth grade!" he whispered. "You wanna tell me what the fuck you did out there that turned Greenie on?" Mark fumbled with his camera, but Roger took it out of his hands. He placed it on the bedside table and looked Mark right in the eyes.

"Her name is Elphaba," he said quietly. "Not Greenie." Roger sighed. Both him and Mimi knew that something was going on between Mark and Elphaba. The agreement was to try and find out (Mimi from Elphaba, and Roger from Mark), then tell everyone and embarrass the shit out of the two. But for Roger, it wasn't going to well.

"Mark, man, I didn't ask what her name was!" Roger said, exasperated. He stood up and started to pace. Mark just sat uncomfortably on his bed, shifting slightly every now and then. Roger noticed this and sat down. Gently, he said, "Man, please tell me?" Mark looked up at his friend and put his hands behind his back.

"There's nothing going on," he said as he crossed his fingers. Roger sighed and left the room.

xXxXxXx

Elphaba was sitting awkwardly in Mimi's room. Her book rested on her lap, and she was fighting the strong urge to open it and read. Mimi was rummaging through her closet, insisting to give Elphaba a makeover. After a lot of persuading (and annoying) she gave in, and Mimi was now throwing around random articles of clothing.

"You know that you're about five inches shorter than me," Elphaba commented. "There's no way your clothing will ever fit me." Mimi smiled mischievously and held up a small, pink tank top. Elphaba had her nose buried in her book, so she didn't see it. Mimi cleared her throat loudly, and Elphaba looked up. When she saw the shirt, she tried to flee. Mimi blocked the door.

"Oh no you don't," she said. "You need to look really hot. I mean, come on, you're totally falling for Mark." Elphaba turned a deep shade of green. Mimi still didn't know if that was blush or not, but she thought it was. Elphaba suddenly became absorbed in the floor and shook her head. Mimi smirked. "You _are!_ Oh my God, Elphaba, that's so cute!" Elphaba stood up and put her hands behind her back.

"You listen, and you listen good," she said threateningly as she crossed her fingers. "There is absolutely _nothing_ going on between Mark and myself. Do you understand me, Mimi Marquez?" Mimi just rolled her eyes.

"Well, fine," she said after a short silence. "But you still agreed to a makeover, so that's what's going to happen now. Come." Elphaba reluctantly stood up. She recalled the last time this happened, with Glinda. The results were not pretty.

"Okay, you're allergic to water, right?" Mimi asked, and Elphaba nodded. "Well, how do you, like, bathe?" Elphaba told her about the oils, and Mimi told her to go and get some. She poured it onto her hand, and let out the loudest scream imaginable. Everyone flooded into the room, Glinda pushing to the front of the group.

"Elphaba? What happened?"

"The oils!" Elphaba cried. "Look at what they've done!"

**A/N: it's a cliffhanger if you squint. More to come. R&R.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: should I bribe you guys for reviews? Howsabout if you review, I'll send you some if Idina Menzel's fave flavor of ice cream. (Yes, I'm that obsessed. It's rocky road, btw.)**

**Warning: very high cheese factor! (It's a cheesy chapter...that's what an old friend used to say)**

**Disclaimer: ...**

Glinda sat with her green friend in amazement. After Mimi told Elphaba to use her oils, she had screamed. Once Glinda came over to her, she realized why. The oils had drastically changed Elphaba.

"My God," Roger said quietly. Everyone nodded, wide-eyed. Elphaba was too absorbed with her newly changed hand to even say anything. Mark just happened to be in the bathroom, so he didn't really see anything. He did hear Elphaba scream, though.

As the group was staring at Elphaba, they heard Mark. He flew out of the bathroom to see what was going on. He ran past the group, and, unfortunately for him, didn't button up his pants properly. They fell down as he ran, exposing a pair of plaid boxers. Everyone snickered, except Elphaba, who blushed. Mark yanked his pants up. "What happened? Elphaba, are you -- oh my God."

Mark sat down next to Elphaba. He took her hand in his. Only, the changed hand was no longer green. No, it was a chocolate color, similar to Joanne's skin tone. Elphaba's oils had changed her skin color. She found this both exciting and scary, all at once. She gripped Mark's hand tightly, mostly out of fear.

"And I thought this world couldn't get any stranger," she mumbled, pulling her hand away. She ran her green fingers over her brown ones. _If that small amount of oil had that affect on just my hands,_ she thought, _imagine what will happen if I pour them all over! I could be...normal. _Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard her name. Several times.

"Elphaba! Sweet Oz!" Glinda cried. She waved a hand violently in front of her friend's face, nearly hitting her nose. Elphaba looked up, raising an eyebrow. "I wanted to know what you are going to do now?" Elphaba gave her a strange look. "I mean, are you going to just leave your hand like that?" Elphaba did not know what to say. _Should I? Should I try to turn green again?_ She stood still for a moment. _Who am I kidding?_

She gathered her oils, and stepped into the bathroom. Before she undressed, there was a knock. She opened the door, and Mimi and Angel stood there, smiling. They handed her something quickly, and shut the door. Elphaba shrugged and put it down on the floor. She shed her clothes and drenched herself in oils. In the mirror, she saw a transformation. She went from hideous, green-skinned witch, to a normal-looking woman.

She sat in silence, admiring her new skin, thinking. Her gaze drifted toward the pile of things that Angel and Mimi had given her. She picked the first thing up. It was a small black dress, not at all similar to the one she usually wore. It had a low collar and it came up to her thighs. She put it down, thinking it was too slutty.

The next thing she picked up was a pair of some kind of heavy blue pants. They looked similar to the ones that the Roger fellow always wore, with the chain. Except hers didn't have a chain. _What did they call them? Jeans, or something? _She thought that they were decent, so she slung them over her arm, still going through the pile.

There were a few different tops, but Elphaba settled for a black tank top. She slung it over her arm as well. The final thing in the pile was a scrap of paper. It was small, and the writing on it was scribbled and smudged. She held it up, and it read:

_Elphaba - _

_You may not think so, but you're beautiful. As much as you like black, you gotta mix it up. Please? You might like some of this stuff. Look around. Try some on. You'll like what you see._

_-The Girls_

_P.S. - Put some of this on, and Mark will go nuts. Trust us._

Elphaba's new brown cheeks did not turn any deep shade of red or pink, no matter how much she felt the heat of blush. _What did they mean, Mark will go nuts?_ She shrugged and slipped on the pants. She felt really flexible and free in them. The dresses were getting to her. She pulled the top over her head, and it exposed some of her stomach. She sighed and took it off.

It turns out, all of the tops did that. Her old dress was wet with oils, so she had to choose a top. There was a simple red one that exposed barely any stomach, but had a very low collar. She debated on which one to wear, and settled with the red one. She put it on and stepped out of the bathroom. Glinda was the first to look up.

"Elphaba, look at you!" she said, causing the others to look. Elphaba looked down and blushed, while all of the girls did a happy victory dance. "We knew you'd like those clothes!" Maureen walked over to Elphaba timidly.

"So," she said with a small smile, "you're hot now." Elphaba cackled. Joanne rolled her eyes at Maureen, but shot Elphaba a playful thumbs-up. Collins looked her over.

"I think I'm gonna turn straight for you," he said. Angel abruptly stopped dancing. She placed her hands on her hips and stared at Collins.

"Oh no you didn't," she said. Collins smiled and Angel pounced on him. She began to tickle him, and he tickled her back. They were breathless in no time, causing the rest of the group to laugh. Roger also looked at Elphaba, although less appropriately. Elphaba found this disturbing.

"Look away, Roger," she said. He blushed, and Mimi gasped. She jumped on Roger and hit him in the arm. Not too playfully.

"_Ow!_ Fuck, Mimi, I was kidding!" He rubbed the sore spot on his arm.

"Look at another girl again," Mimi said threateningly, "and no sex for a year." Roger gasped playfully and shut his eyes. Mimi giggled happily and kissed him tenderly. Maureen and Joanne were still dancing, but with each other. In a very R-rated way. Glinda found this somewhat gross, so she ran to sit next to Elphaba.

"You know, Elphie," she said. She stood up and went behind Elphaba. Everyone watched, curious to see what the girl would do next. She pulled Elphaba's hair out if its braid, and the group watched it cascade down her back, falling to her waist.

This entire time, Mark was speechless. Mark had kept his mouth shut, for fear of saying something completely idiotic. But now, he spoke up. "Elphaba," he began, and her dark brown eyes met his icy blue ones. This made him nervous. "Um, so, uh, you have nice eyes." Roger patted him sympathetically on the back, while Elphaba smiled slightly.

"I was thinking," she said to Mark, "that you were going to say something about my shirt, or my pants, or my new skin." Mark looked at her, along with everyone else. She didn't notice everyone staring at her. Right now, it was just her and Mark. "But you said something about me that _didn't _change. Why?" Mark smiled.

"Because nothing about you ever needed to change." Mark's confidence was growing, and she (along with everyone) could tell. "You're a beautiful person, Elphaba." His response shocked her. She thought that she was going to get a snide remark thrown at her. But Mark had called her beautiful. And it did not seem like he was lying.

She smiled and put her hand over his. "Thanks."

**A/N: ok, reviews make me very happy. Next chapter will have some good stuff...hehehe!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: howdy, y'all. God, I love saying that. Okay, I got the message in ur reviews, you want Elphaba green again. Wait and see, wait and see.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Wicked or Rent, which is why I write these things...to block the pain.**

Elphaba didn't know what she was doing. Or why she was feeling crazy butterflies in her stomach. _Get ahold of yourself,_ she scolded herself silently. Her hand had found its way over to Mark's, and publicly! _I'm such an idiot. Now that I'm not green, I thought that I had the right to show my feelings for this gorgeous man? I've only known him for - oh God, gorgeous? I need help._

Mark felt these butterflies as well. Elphaba had draped her hand over his after she changed her skin tone. To him, this was astounding._ Elphaba is amazing,_ he thought as her hand rested on his, causing shivers. _She has such a beautiful face, and her eyes are so intense. Her personality is so wonderful, too. Maybe I'm just being stupid. I mean, she probably has so many other options back where she lives. But it's nice to dream._

Elphaba and Mark were lost in their own little world. Her hand was worked, but his was soft. They fit together perfectly, and the entire group could tell. Glinda and Roger met eyes, and realized then and there that Elphaba and Mark should be together. Since they were sitting near them, Glinda, sitting by Elphaba, gave her a small nudge. Roger, sitting by Mark, pushed him forward. Elphaba and Mark, instead of doing what Roger and Glinda had in mind, banged heads.

"Ow!" Mark said, pulling back. Elphaba rubbed her head, causing her hair to get messed up. She sighed and quickly pulled it into a braid. It was annoying her, anyway. Roger and Glinda blushed, while Elphaba stood up. She seemed embarrassed, looking at the floor and twiddling her thumbs. Mark's skin tone had also changed: he went from a pale peach to a bright pink. After a very long silence, Maureen really needed to talk.

"Oh my _God_ Mark!" she cried, pointing to the filmmaker. The rest of the group looked at her strangely, except Glinda. She seemed to see where Maureen was coming from. The drama queen continued. "Look at you guys! Mark, it's painfully obvious you like this chick!" Mark blushed. Glinda stood up, next to Maureen.

"And Elphaba, come on," the blond said. She got a proud look from Maureen, and strange looks from just about everyone else. "You held his hand. You never even _hug_ me, and you've known me for over four years." Elphaba gasped. She and looked over at Mark, who met her eyes. She went out the door, and he grabbed his camera and jacket and fled.

Angel shook her head. "I can't believe I didn't see it! Ay dios mio, I'm blind!" She began to pace, and talk to Mimi in Spanish. Mimi listened to her for a few minutes, then both of their eyes grew wide. They high-fived, and everyone stared. Collins went over to Angel and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Babe," he said in a sweet voice, "I love you with all my heart, don't get me wrong. But would it _kill_ you to talk in English when you come up with your crazy plans?" Roger nodded enthusiastically, and Angel shrugged. Mimi looked apologetically at the gang.

"So what did you say?" Glinda asked. "Are you planning on getting Elphaba and Mark together? Because Elphaba really needs someone. I don't think that she's had sex in like, three years!" The group roared with laughter at that comment, but Glinda didn't understand what was funny. "What?" Joanne stopped giggling long enough to answer Glinda.

"Ever since Maureen dumped Mark, he hasn't had a girlfriend," the lawyer explained. Glinda's nose was still scrunched up, a sign that she was confused. "It was about three years ago, and his sex life basically went _plop!"_ Joanne brought her hands together in a loud clap, and Glinda nodded. She _really_ needed to get Elphaba hooked up with this guy.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Roger asked. He had gotten everyone beers (except Glinda, who didn't hold down alcohol too well). This was officially the first meeting of the get-Elphaba-and-Mark-together club. Joanne was even taking notes. Maureen took a sip of her beer and raised her hand.

"We could force 'em together," she said happily. "You know, lock them in a closet together, or something. That would work for Mark. Howsabout Elphaba?" Glinda shook her head and sighed.

"Elphaba would probably beat him if he got too close," the girl said. She took a sip of her water (not sparkling, much to her disappointment). "She's too freaking stubborn! God, if she actually needed someone-"

Collins wouldn't let her finish. "That's it! Man, I knew I liked something about you, kid! You're smart!" Glinda thanked him, but no one (including Glinda) knew what Collins was talking about. He realized this, and went on to explain. "If Elphaba is vulnerable, and Mark _just happens_ to be there..." He really didn't need to finish. The group all high-fived each other, and Collins and Glinda hugged. Then Angel and Glinda hugged.

"Okay, we have that Elphaba needs to be vulnerable," Joanne said. She smiled and wrote something down. "We just need to figure out how. Got any ideas, guys?" Mimi stood up proudly. She ran to the front of the group so everyone could see her.

"I think that we should all meet at the Life tonight," she started. When she saw Glinda's confused look, she explained that the Life was just another way that they said the Life Cafe, a place where they all hung out. Glinda nodded for Mimi to continue. "So, we try to get Elphaba to slip up as much as possible. She could fall, trip, whatever it takes for Mark to help her. Agreed?" Everyone nodded, seeming to like the idea. Except Joanne.

"No," she said. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy, but she shook her head. "I've dealt with clients that had similar personalities to Elphaba. They always were too stubborn to let anyone help them, unless they knew the person really well. If Glinda's there, Elphaba will ask for her help. We need Glinda to be out of the picture for that moment. I'm sorry guys." Everyone moaned and groaned. But Glinda suddenly coughed. She kept on coughing furiously, and everyone got worried. As soon as she started, she stopped. And smiled.

"I'm sick," she said with a huge smile. "I'm _so_ sorry I can't make it." Everyone cheered. Glinda lied down on the couch and moaned. "Can you guys be quiet? I have a headache!" Everyone laughed and went to get ready.

A little while later was when Mark called for the keys; he was with Elphaba. They had met on the street and walked home together. Roger just told them to meet the rest of the group at the Life. Elphaba didn't know what the Life was, so on the way, Mark told her all about it, and about the group's famous "La Vie Boheme" incident a few years ago. She laughed and talked with Mark comfortably on the walk over there. She didn't notice her ankles, though. They had begun to change; from a rich brown to a rich green.

**A/N: I just really needed her green. It wasn't right to _not_ have her green, you know? And good stuff will happen…really. REALLY!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Update! Huzzah! (omg I love saying that) Sorry I haven't updated in forever. This chapter was really hard to write...I don't know why, though.**

**Disclaimer: don't own either of em.**

Elphaba and Mark approached the Cafe. Right before she was about to enter, Elphaba hunched her shoulders and focused on the ground. Mark realized this and led her to a small alley. He lifted her chin so she was looking at him. His eyes showed concern towards her.

"What's up with you?" he asked. Much to her dismay, he slid his finger from under her chin. "Suddenly you're all hunched over and shy. Are you alright?" She shrugged silently.

"Not really," she admitted. Another shrug. "I -- the green. It took over _four years_ for some people to get used to it. No one knows me here. How do you think they'll react, Mark?" He chuckled and took her hands in his, causing the return of the butterflies.

"Elphaba, you're not green," he said. Before he could stop himself, he gave her a hug. After quickly pulling away, he apologized many times. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. Oh, God, are you going to throw me into a wall again? Because this one's concrete, and I'm really not I the mood for a concussion." Elphaba didn't respond right away. Her face slowly scrunched up. Then, to Mark's surprise, she let out one of the _loudest_ laughs.

"Mark, you're babbling," she said through her laughter. Soon, he joined along, and then, they were both rolling around on the ground (**A/N: heh. Rhyme!) **laughing. Elphaba couldn't remember the last time she laughed as hard. "Come," she said, "let's go inside. I'm starving."

As quickly as she was down, she was up. She pulled Mark to his feet, as well, and they entered the cafe. But, they weren't expecting...

xXxXxXx (**A/N: kinda sorta flashback. It was about 20 minutes ago)**

The gang, excluding Mark and Elphaba, entered the Life Cafe quietly. They saw Elphaba in the alley, and thought it was their perfect time to set their trap.

"So if we put the ice cube here," Maureen pointed to a space on the ground, "she'll slip, fall, and Mark will help her up." Joanne sighed.

"Didn't we agree that we'd just trip her? No ice cubes involved?" she asked. "If we end up making someone else fall, the Cafe could get sued." Maureen started blankly at her, and Joanne sighed again. "The Cafe could sue _us_, then we'd be even _more_ broke than we are now."

"Oh." But Joanne smiled.

"Just incase, I brought rope." Maureen laughed.

"Jo, baby, it's not new years yet," she said. Joanne chuckled and started to set up the rope, to trip Elphaba. Once she was done, the group scattered to different tables around the cafe. Maureen and Collins had one, Angel and Joanne had another, and Roger was at the bar. All they needed to do was wait.

xXxXxXx

Elphaba and Mark stepped out of the alley. He had fun laughing with her, but that worked up an appetite. They laughed as they walked to the cafe, and she stepped inside first. Then, BOOM! She was on the ground. Her arm was twisted into a crazy position, too.

"Oh fuck," she hissed. Mark stepped in after her, only to see her on the ground. He bent down next to her, not really knowing what to do.

"Are you okay?" he asked pathetically. She just stared at him, eyebrows raised. "Probably not the best question to ask right now."

"Ya think?" she asked. Her voice was strained, almost as if she had trouble getting her words out. "Can you help me up?"

Mark nodded quickly. He slipped one hand under her waist and one under her knees. She picked up her limp arm and placed it on her lap, then hooked her good arm around his neck. He lifted her off of the ground and into a booth. She had the most awful back pain, and her arm hurt like hell.

"Um, do you need a doctor?" he asked. She pressed her lips together and nodded. Mark really didn't like this. She seemed so helpless to him...he didn't know what to do. "Elphaba, uh, can you walk?" She shook her head. He sighed. "Come on, we're going to get you to a doctor." He cupped her face in his hand and stroked her cheek lightly. "You'll be okay. I promise." She weakly smiled.

By this time, Maureen noticed the two. She jumped up and ran over to Joanne, whispered it to her, and soon, the whole group was watching. Mark picked Elphaba up, what looked to them like bridal style, and they walked out of the cafe. Maureen stood up and danced.

"I think they're together!" she chirped. "I mean, did you see how he was carrying her?" Everyone except Roger cheered. He had a skeptical look on his face.

"I don't know," he said. "Did you see her face? She looked like she was in _pain._ Do you think we hurt her?" The group all stopped to think. She _did_ have a pained expression on her face. And her arm _did_ look pretty bad.

"Oh shit," Collins said. They all ran out to follow the two, hoping to catch up and apologize.

**A/N: ugh, that's awful. R&R anyway, please!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: omg, guys, im soooo sorry! My laptop got busted, for those who read, and I just got it back. I'm really sorry!**

**Disclaimer: nuthin. That's what I own.**

The bohemians were trailing behind Mark and Elphaba, not realizing that Elphaba was in so much pain. Elphaba's bottom lip had begun to bleed, she was biting it so hard. Mark was walking as quickly as he could to a hospital, but there closest one was about ten minutes away. He was also trying to figure out a way to comfort a woman that he just met.

"Um, Elphaba, maybe if we..."

"Elphaba, do you need..."

"We're almost there, so..."

_He's funny when he's like that,_ she began thinking. About him. About how he was so kind to her. About how he was so thoughtful. How he showed no disgust at first sight of her skin. About..._Oh, Oz, I'm doing it again. If I keep this up I'll drive myself crazy. _What Elphaba didn't know, was that Mark was having thoughts that were along the same lines as her own.

xXxXxXx

Mimi and Glinda were sitting on the loft's couch, painting their nails, when they got a phone call. Mimi put down her nail polish and went to answer it.

"Hello?...Oh my God, what?...The hospital?...You're freakin' kidding me...Yeah, I know her...Okay, I'll come right away...She's asking for Glinda?...Oh my God, why is she...Her arm? What happened to...WHAT? Oh, FUCK!!...Sorry ma'am...Yeah, uh, well, we'll be right over...Okay...Thanks for calling...Bye."

She slammed the phone down with a thud, and stormed over to Glinda. Glinda set down her nail polish calmly and looked up at Mimi. She saw her new friend's normally wide, energetic eyes full of worry.

"What happened?" she asked, blowing on her nails.

"Glinda, how do you take bad news?" Mimi asked nervously. "I mean, can you handle bad stuff? Or, do you like to be told...um...gently?" Glinda shrugged. "Okay, well, elfazbit," she mumbled, looking down. Glinda cocked her head to the side, raising her eyebrows, as if to say _Excuse me?_ Mimi sighed. "It's Elphaba."

Glinda's eyes widened. "Did she kiss him?" Mimi shook her head and laughed nervously.

"It's bad news, remember?" Glinda sighed.

"She's too stubborn," the blond-haired girl stated. "She didn't kiss him?"

"Well, no." Glinda swore under her breath. "But that's not what I'm trying to say. Glinda, Elphaba's in the hospital."

Immediately, Glinda jumped up. She threw on a pair of Mimi's boots (to match the outfit that Mimi lent her), and headed for the door. When Mimi didn't follow, Glinda stomped her foot. "Mimi, come on! You know this city like the back of your hand! We have to go help Elphie!"

Mimi couldn't help but smirk. "Elphie?"

Glinda sighed and pulled her friend off of the couch. Together, they headed to the hospital.

xXxXxXx

"Guys, there they are," Collins told the group, just as Mimi and Glinda met up with them.

The large group of bohemians (and Glinda, who hadn't been officially dubbed "bohemian" yet) were tearing the hospital apart, trying to find Mark and Elphaba. Eventually, though, they did. In the waiting room. Mark was filling out paperwork while Elphaba sat with her chin resting on her knees, legs pulled up tight against her. Glinda was the first to scurry over to her friend.

"Elphaba!" she called, causing almost everyone there to look up. Elphaba wearily smiled at her friend.

"Hey, Glin."

"Oh, Elphaba," Glinda said, referring to her friend's arm. It was stained with a bit of dried blood from a small cut, and twisted into a strange angle. "How did that happen? Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts, you idiot!" Elphaba hissed. Mark had finished his paperwork, and the other bohemians were filling him in on what happened. "I mean, one minute, I'm fine, and the next I'm on the ground with a bad back and a broken arm!"

"Yes, okay, it hurts," Glinda said, "but how did it happen?"

Elphaba shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. I mean, I'm usually clumsy, but never _this_ bad. I wonder what tripped me up?" Glinda laughed nervously.

"I may have an idea."

xXxXxXx

Mark was talking quietly with everyone while Glinda and Elphaba were discussing Elphaba's injury. Joanne took the liberty of explaining the entire fiasco to Mark, including the plan. When Maureen told him (again) that he was falling for the new girl, he winced.

"I am not fall --" he looked up to see the bohemians smirking at him. "Okay, is it _that_ obvious?" They all nodded. Mark groaned, then fell silent.

No one really knew what to do, until Roger pointed out that they could watch Glinda explaining what happened to Elphaba. Her reaction would be priceless. As Glinda could be slightly heard talking to Elphaba, the hurt girl's face became completely blank. After having Glinda's had waved in front of her face, Elphaba snapped.

"YOU WHAT?" she screamed, standing up. Glinda slumped in her seat and mumbled something. "I DON'T CARE IF PEOPLE CAN HEAR ME, GLIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU DON'T GO AROUND TELLING PEOPLE MY PERSONAL SECRETS!"

That was when Glinda perked up. She stood up and said something that only Elphaba could hear. Both girls slowly turned towards Mark, who was beet red. Glinda began to drag Elphaba over to him, and since she had no back strength to pull away, Elphaba went along.

Once Elphaba and Mark were face-to-face, Glinda ran over to Mimi. "Elphaba said that Mark was her secret, Mimi," she whispered. "Can you believe that?" Mimi did a small victory dance and went over to Angel. She told Angel who told Collins who told Maureen who told Joanne what Glinda had originally said. The whole group decided to watch what they hoped to be the soon-to-be couple, dropping Elphaba's doctor's appointment.

**A/N: sooooo...whaddaya think? Oh, and for all those who know who Eden Espinosa is, go check out her version of 'Hippie Life' from _Hair._ (That is, if you haven't already.) It's on iTunes, and it's great. (Adam Pascal's on there too...he sings 'I Got Life'...LOL!)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: ok, the long-awaited (yeah right) conversation between Elphaba and Mark. Enjoy the cheesy-ness -- even Elphaba's aware of it!**

**Disclaimer: nope. **

Mark and Elphaba were standing in front of each other awkwardly. Very awkwardly. Well, Mark had a quiet nature about him, but it was unusual for Elphaba to be so silent. She would normally be talking at this point. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to say anything. And having everyone else watching them wasn't helping much.

Finally, when the silence was unbearable, Elphaba sighed. "Now you know, I guess." She became immersed in her shoes and Mark blushed. He took her good hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb. With anyone else, she would have pulled away and slapped them, but with Mark, she felt safe.

"What do I know?" he asked quietly, honestly not knowing what she thought he knew. No response. "You can tell me," he coaxed. Her hands were shaking, and she was sure he could feel it. He could, and he tightened his grip on her; in a comforting way.

"That you -- that you're my secret," Elphaba mumbled. She looked up slowly to see his reaction. First, obviously, he blushed. Next, he did something unthinkable. As he leaned close to her face, he didn't know if he was dreaming or not.

His soft breath tickled her skin as he whispered, "You've been my secret since I met you."

Elphaba smiled. "That's so cheesy."

They laughed together quietly, their faces still close. She met his eyes, looked away, and met them again. He cupped her cheek with his free hand. She slowly leaned into him, and he closed the gap. His kiss was gentle, he let her lead. But Elphaba didn't want gentle. She grazed her tongue across his lower lip, and soon, their tongues were battling. As they pulled away, he bit down on her bottom lip. They broke apart breathless and grinning.

Glinda squealed. Maureen squealed. Joanne squealed. Mimi squealed. Angel squealed. Roger squeal -- nope, Roger didn't squeal. But he _did_ start to cheer, along with Collins. Mark and Elphaba jumped at the sound of the cheers, and both blushed. They ran outside, and the rest of the group decided to give them their privacy. Elphaba and Mark settled themselves on stairs directly outside the hospital.

Elphaba was the first to talk. Well, gasp. She felt her bones reset themselves, and her arm was practically as good as new. She touched it with her other hand, and when she expected to feel pain, she actually felt relief. There was no pain, simply the feeling of her lanky hand brush across her forearm.

To test her newly healed arm, she hesitantly reached out to Mark. Her hands found his, and he pulled her to him. His hand stroked her cheek, her hands ran through his hair. He kissed her cheek and whispered, "I've been wanting to do this for so long."

She sighed a happy sigh. "You're not alone."

He pulled back and looked her in the eye. She was right. He wasn't alone anymore. At least, he hoped he wasn't. "Elphaba, when do you need to...go back?"

"You want me gone already?" she teased. Apparently, he didn't get it, because he quickly tried to tell her that he wanted her to stay. She laughed and stroked his cheek. "A week." His face fell. "But I want to stay for longer. I like being here."

"I like you being here, too," he said quietly. He took her hand and pulled her off of the ground. He began to lead her up the steps, into the hospital again. She gave him a questioning look. "We might as well give them their glory."

Elphaba groaned. Mark raised an eyebrow at her. "Glinda."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"_Oh."_

xXxXxXx

Mark and Elphaba stepped inside the hospital and looked around, trying to find the group. When they couldn't, they decided to sit down on the waiting room chairs, because they knew the group wouldn't last in hiding for long.

After about ten minutes, they heard a sneeze. It was soft and muffled, and it sounded like it was coming from the restrooms. Elphaba got up and knocked on the door. Mimi threw it open. The rest of the group, half-relieved with and half-disappointed in her, fell out of the bathroom. Roger and Collins went over to Mark, while the girls went over to Elphaba.

Glinda began jumping up and down, muttering things (which she does when she's happy.) After she stopped jumping, she squealed and gave Elphaba a hug. "Elphie, that was so _cute!_ I mean, me and Maureen totally knew that you two were meant for each other. And Mimi knew too. Angel and Joanne were kinda slow, but they caught on eventually. And I can't _believe_ that you screamed that Mark was your secret! I mean, how much more romantic could you get? Then you _kissed_ him! Oh my gosh, Elphie, that was amazing! I think that you two should totally be pen pals! I mean, I don't know how you're going to pull _that_ off, but we'll work something out. Oh, maybe, when we go back, he could --"

"GLINDA!" Elphaba shouted, stopping her friend from going any further. "You're going to kill yourself if you keep going on with what little air you can fit in there. _Breathe_ woman!"

Everyone chuckled as Glinda took a breath. The girls continued their chatter, while the guys were talking as well.

"Mark, you finally did it!" Collins's voice was happy. And loud. Mark blushed furiously and looked over to Elphaba. She met his gaze for a moment, but looked back when Maureen began to talk. He looked her over, and...did he see green on her fingers? No, no he didn't. She didn't like green, so he didn't see green

"Hey, lover boy, are you listening?" Roger waved a hand in front of Mark's face, causing the filmmaker to jump. "We're congratulating you, and you don't even _care? _God." Collins chuckled and Mark smiled sheepishly.

"She's pretty," he said quietly, kind of like a first grader. Roger and Collins roared with laughter. Mark blushed, trying to defend himself. "She _is._ C'mon, she's great!"

"Yeah," Roger said, looking Elphaba over. Collins hit him on the back of the head. Elphaba saw him, as well. She stormed over to him, her boots making thudding noises. The girls watched silently. Roger was somewhat afraid.

"I _told_ you to stop looking at me like that," Elphaba hissed. She pointed at him with a long finger, making him flinch. "Do it again, and you'll...you'll wake up tomorrow as a scarecrow!" He chuckled. "Believe me, I've done it. I used to date him."

Mark frowned. Elphaba walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "But now, I'm dating Mark. Right?" The filmmaker beamed.

"Yes, Elphaba, you are now dating Mark. Uh, me."

**A/N: omg, in the past month I saw Rent, Wicked, and the Apple Tree (w/ Kristin Chenoweth, who's hilarious!) They gave me inspiration!!! R&R MY MINIONS!!! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Saw Apple Tree again. And I almost got to meet the Cheno! But there were people waiting on either side of the stage door, and she only signed for the people on one side! And it wasn't my side!!!!!!! Then she left!!!! She's a meanie-head now. I almost cried. So reviews would cheer me up. Plz.**

_Mark and Elphaba stumbled into the loft, swaying slightly as they walked. It was around one o'clock in the morning, while their date was set for around six the previous night. The couple had banned the rest of the group from the Life Cafe, where the date was, because they wanted a night alone. Mark, being his lightweight self, got drunk easily. But Elphaba found the drinks in this world contained more alcohol, so she also got drunk fairly quickly._

_As they walked in, Elphaba and Mark were singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Okay, maybe not singing. Slurring. This woke Roger, who called for them to shut up. They just giggled and went into Mark's room._

That was all Elphaba could remember. She sat up, only to find that her head was killing. She moaned and laid back down, eyes still shut. Slowly, she opened them. She gasped at her surroundings. For one, she had turned completely green. She knew that she was gradually turning back, and accepted it. Angel said that it was good to be different. But, before last night, it was only her hands and her feet. Now it was all of her.

The second thing she found shocking was that she could actually _see_ all of herself. The only thing covering her was a white sheet, clad around her waist. She didn't want to, but she brought herself to look next to her. Just as she thought, it was Mark. Also naked. Judging by the pain in the middle of her legs, she quickly put two and two together.

Mark stirred quietly and rolled over to face her. He looked just as worried and upset as she did. He took her hand and looked her in the eyes. "Did we -- ow." He let go of her hand and grabbed his head. "Fuck."

She pulled the sheet over both of them, slowly moving toward him. She placed her hands on his, shutting her eyes. "I know."

"Have you ever..."

"Not till last night."

His eyes widened. He shook his head, silently scolding himself. "Oh, Elphaba, I'm so sorry."

She simply nodded, not feeling up to saying anything. He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her protectively. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "What time is it?"

Mark's eyes traveled over to the clock. He looked back at Elphaba, then did a double-take. "It's almost noon."

"Okay, how drunk were we?" They laughed, then immediately stopped. Their heads were killing them. After laying in bed for about ten more minutes, Elphaba stumbled up and put on some clothes. Mark's t-shirt and his boxers. "I don't know about you," she mumbled, "but I'm in desperate need of some painkillers."

"You know they'll make fun of you, right?" he asked, sitting up. When he looked around to find his clothes, and couldn't, he stumbled out of bed and grabbed something from his closet. They emerged holding hands, leaning on each other for support. In the living room sat Glinda, talking quietly with Joanne. It appeared that Maureen was in the bathroom. Elphaba walked over to her friends and sat down next to them. Mark was about to sit as well, but she stopped him.

"Go get me painkillers."

"Elphaba, I --" he tried to protest.

"Now." Her tone of voice was not one to argue with, so he went to the kitchen and grabbed the Asprin and two cups of water. Elphaba took hers greedily -- her headache was more severe. Once they were done, Joanne looked at Glinda, then began to talk.

"Um, you guys," she started slowly, "did you, um, use, uh, protection?"

"Use what now?" Elphaba asked. Apparently, in Oz, you just took chances. So Joanne took the liberty of explaining protection to Elphaba (she had explained it to Glinda earlier), while Mark just sat there, head in his hands. Maureen came out of the bathroom as Glinda finished explaining, and Elphaba looked paler than usual.

"I'm going to puke," she managed to say, and bolted to the bathroom. Glinda went in to comfort her, and Joanne and Maureen were talking to Mark.

"Mark, it'll be alright," Joanne said soothingly. "I mean, it's not like it was anything new to you."

"But it was new to _her_," Mark said quietly. Maureen let out a low whistle. Joanne gave her a _not helping_ look. Mark just shook his head. After about fifteen minutes, Elphaba emerged from the bathroom with Glinda's arm around her for support. Glinda lead her over to a chair and set her down gently. Mark immediately got up and went over to her.

"Fae," he said quietly. She looked up curiously. Only one other person had ever called her that. How did he know? As if he read her mind, he said, "I'm sorry, it's just a nickname. If you don't like it I won't call you that."

"No, no, it's fine," Elphaba said, in a daze. Mark pulled her close, into a hug. He rubbed her back soothingly, and she soon started to shake and cry. Her arms found their way around his neck for support, and they stood there together, just comforting each other. No one really knew what to say, so all was silent.

Almost.

"HEY, BITCHES!" Collins came into the loft carrying a large bag full of God knows what. Elphaba and Mark broke apart and groaned. Their headaches were still annoying them.

"Jesus, Collins, shut up!" Glinda cried. This, for some reason, was funny to Elphaba. She began to laugh hard, completely forgetting about her headache and tear-burned cheeks. Once it died down, Glinda gave her an odd look. She shrugged.

"I've never heard you talk like that, Glin," she stated. "It was _very_ funny. Whoo, it almost made me feel better." She moaned placing her hand on her stomach. She rubbed it for a minute, wondering if something was really growing in there. Collins picked this up.

"Did y'all get laid?" he asked, gesturing towards Mark and Elphaba. They groaned, and there was his answer. Mimi and Roger came out of their room silently after listening in on the last part of the conversation. "Aw, that's good."

Elphaba couldn't take it anymore. She had anger and worry building up inside of her, and she needed to let it out. Now. "NO, COLLINS, IT'S NOT FUCKING GOOD! KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I MIGHT BE FUCKING PREGNANT!"

**A/N: so whaddaya think is gonna happen? Let me know! R&R!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I seriously bet that you'll never guess what'll happen in this chapter. If you do, then humor me.**

"What happened?" Angel stepped into the loft wearing a bright yellow dress and heels to match. She strode over to Elphaba, who said nothing. "What did you say, Elphaba?" Elphaba was still silent. "Young lady, I want an answer from you," Angel said sternly. "Right now."

Elphaba looked up slowly. Angel had never talked to her like that, and she had begun to realize that she was seriously anticipating an answer. "I said that I might be pregnant," Elphaba mumbled. Angel's expression was unreadable. "I'm sorry, all of you."

Mimi looked over at Elphaba. "Do you know if you can contact someone to tell them about this?" she asked. Elphaba snorted and looked at Mimi like she was incapable of coming up with a good idea.

Angel rolled her eyes. "Don't start being a smartass, Elphaba," she said harshly. She didn't like the way Elphaba treated her best friend. "Mimi's trying to help you, alright? We _all_ want to help you, but if you won't let us, then go get yourself a pregnancy test and deal with your own big fucking mess." Angel crossed her arms over her chest and went to comfort a very upset Mimi, who wasn't used to the fact that Elphaba's "looks" could be very scary.

The green woman stood up angrily. "You know what?" she hissed. "Maybe I just will." She started for the door, and Collins tried to pull her back. She slapped him across the face (can you say 'bad mood?') and continued to the door, unaware of Glinda's quiet protests. Mark then tried to pull her back, but she simply glared at him, still unaware of Glinda's protests. Maureen, though, was well aware of what Glinda was trying to do. So she did the small blond a favor.

"HEY!" Maureen yelled, causing Elphaba to stop short. She turned, and Maureen sat back down, giving Glinda the Elphaba-duty.

Glinda was standing, shoulders hunched, fists clenched. Her face was nearly red. She went over to her friend and gently took her hand. Elphaba didn't shy away, though. "Elphaba, be reasonable. Do you really think that you could get through this without all of us?"

"Why wouldn't I be able to?" Elphaba spat. She pulled her hand away from Glinda's and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

"You can't always do everything on your own!" Joanne shouted, which surprised everyone (including herself). Elphaba walked back in slowly, quietly. "Don't you get it? Sometimes you need people to comfort you!"

"She's right, Elphie," Glinda said. "I'm not saying go all out and blow up this place – which I know you are capable of. I can't speak for everyone here, but you definitely have my shoulder to cry on if you need it."

Elphaba turned to her new friends. She saw reassuring smiles on every one of their faces. Mimi even shrugged off the small insult from earlier and beckoned Elphaba to sit down next to her. Once the green girl was completely settled, the discussion began. Various suggestions were brought up regarding what Elphaba could do. Most of them included her contacting Madame Menzel in some way, but no one knew how.

Collins was in the middle of saying something when Maureen interrupted him with a small yelp. She pointed to the floor and scrambled up onto Joanne's lap, nearly knocking the wind out of the lawyer. "There's a mouse in here!"

Collins chuckled. "Girl, there's a whole _colony_ of those bitches living here," he said. "What's so bad about one?"

"You don't get it!" she shouted. She really did seem afraid. "This mouse was wearing a _dress. _Someone get it out!_"_

Roger laughed. "C'mon, Mo, just leave it. It's not like it's bothering --" That's when he caught a glimpse of this mouse. He jumped up onto the coffee table with his guitar, hugging it close for protection. "HOLY CRAP! Maureen wasn't kidding! Kill the little fucker!" He looked at Elphaba as if to say, _How did you get it into a dress?_

Elphaba shrugged. "I didn't do it."

Glinda, though, seemed interested. "Maureen what color was the mouse?"

"Brown," she replied. "Why?"

"What color was the dress?" Glinda asked. Elphaba was beginning to catch on to Glinda's suspicion. "Was it a green color?"

"Uh-huh!" Maureen looked flabbergasted. "How'd you know that?"

"Because we don't have just any mouse on our hands," Elphaba supplied. She bent down on the ground in search of the mouse. After a few minutes she found it and had it in her hands. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet the headmistress of our school, and our sorcery teacher, Madame Menzel."

With that, the mouse jumped onto the couch where Roger was before his little outburst. Smoke clouded around it, and no one could see what was happening. After about a minute, the smoke slowly started to evaporate, revealing a woman who strongly resembled both Maureen and Elphaba. _As if this couldn't get any weirder,_ Roger thought.

"Hello, all," she said calmly. She turned to Elphaba, "I've recently been watching you two --"

Elphaba stood up, fuming. "Wait, what?" she asked angrily. "You were _watching us?_ You mean you _knew_ that we were here? Why didn't you help us?"

"This is no Emerald City, Madame," Glinda chimed in.

Madame Menzel chuckled. "Why, of course it's not. This was no vacation."

"You bet your _ass_ it ain't no vacation!" Glinda said all gangsta-like. She quickly brought her hand over her mouth and apologized to the head about 525,600 times. "I have to stop hanging around with Collins..." (Elphaba, meanwhile, was trying not to laugh too hard. She had put a small spell on Glinda that made her, for the time being, swear around important people. She needed to have _some_ fun, didn't she?)

Madame Menzel laughed. "It's okay, don't worry," she said. "I should explain now, right?" Everyone nodded. "This was a ... test. Elphaba, you really were our top sorcery student," (insert Elphaba-smirk here), "but we needed to do a test on ... on how well you _use_ your powers in a sticky situation ... Like this one."

"Wait just a God damn minute...clock-tick...whatever you people call it," Mimi said. "Why didn't we have a say in this? I'm not saying I don't want them here, Glinda's awesome!" Elphaba raised her eyebrows. "Oh, right. Elphaba's great too! But I don't understand why we weren't asked about all of this."

"Miss, I'm sorry, but this is nothing permanent," Madame Menzel said. Everyone seemed confused. "Once we leave, your memories will be wiped. You won't remember a thing," she said gently. Mark and Elphaba immediately looked at each other, almost longingly. Glinda and Mimi hugged tightly, and soon were sniffling (although not actually letting tears fall). Madame Menzel sighed.

"Oh, I knew this was going to happen," she mumbled. "There is one more option, though. But it is quite difficult and requires extreme effort from not only Glinda and Elphaba, but from all those who want them to stay here."

"Definitely," Mimi said. Mark nodded in agreement, going over to Elphaba and intwining his fingers with hers.

"Well, then, we can have somewhat of a trial," Madame Menzel stated. "Elphaba, you can stay here with Glinda for one year. You will both have jobs and take full responsibility to help pay the rent of this apartment. Unless, of course, you choose to move to another vacant area."

Mimi's face brightened. "My old loft! It's small, but it's cheap. And it's just a couple flights of stairs down!" Glinda and Elphaba liked that idea. So did the head.

"But you will also be keeping up with your studies," Madame Menzel said firmly. Elphaba shrugged, but Glinda rolled her eyes. "I saw that, Ms. Upland. Now, if you decide to stay, your books will be sent to you, you can learn from them. Monthly tests will be administered in every core subject. The most important thing about staying here, is to tell _no one_ of where you are from. That goes for everyone here."

Elphaba and Glinda nodded happily. Glinda even gave Madame Menzel a hug. "Thank you so much!" she squealed. "A whole year here, Elphie! This is so great!"

"No," Elphaba said seriously. "I have a feeling ... Wait, Madame, you said earlier that you were watching us?"

"Yes."

"That means you know about Mark and me?" she asked nervously. "I mean, we're ... together. That's okay?"

"Oh, that's more than okay, Elphaba," the head said, smiling. She stood, smoothing her skirt. "And I know how worried you are. You are _not_ pregnant."

Elphaba sighed with relief and took Mark's hand. He kissed her on the cheek, but she pushed him away, embarrassed in front of the head. Their fingers were still locked, though.

"I -- I'm afraid, then, that I don't understand why we're staying for one year," Elphaba admitted. "I figured it was because I _was _going to have a child, but I'm not. And by the time we get back, we'll be well into next year's semester. It just doesn't make sense."

Madame Menzel rose from her seat on the couch and announced to the entire group, again, that Glinda and Elphaba were permitted to stay for a year. Before Elphaba had the chance to celebrate, Madame Menzel pulled her aside quietly to talk; to explain in more detail.

"Elphaba, I normally am not very generous with time limits," she started. "The most I have ever given in this situation is about two or three months."

"Why am I an exception?" Elphaba asked quietly.

"You need to stay," Madame Menzel said firmly. Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Dear," she said more gently, "you're staying for a year, because some things back in Oz are not going as planned, and it's safest if you are here, okay?"

Elphaba stood. "What's wrong back home? Is someone hurt?"

"I can't tell you, dear," Madame Menzel said hurriedly, "I've already said too much. Now, I must be going."

"Madame, I --" Before Elphaba could finish, Madame Menzel disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving Elphaba in a world of confusion.

**A/N: I know Glinda wasn't really in character when she cursed, but a friend of mine had said that line the other day, and she's a _total_ Glinda, so yeah. Anyhoodles, tell me what y'all think.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: hi you guys! Wow, I haven't updated in quite some time, eh? Hoo-boy. Let's see if this chapter can make up for it. I know it's a bit on the short side, but I think that it's okay. It's set about two-three months after the previous one. Only the story shall tell more. Oooh, mysterious. (Work with me, people)**

**Oh, and I didn't have the heart to put a cliffhanger where you all know that I should have.**

**Disclaimer: haven't written one of these in a while. So, basically, I don't own Wicked or Rent, blah, blah, blah...**

Elphaba and Glinda were slowly adapting to their new apartment. They had two bedrooms, a kitchen/living area, and a bathroom. Glinda's room was laced with frilly pink trinkets, pink sheets, and, of course, her pink wardrobe. Elphaba's room was left plain, except for her dresser, bookshelf, and bed. Mimi had gotten her some new clothes -- more pants, fewer dresses. It turned out that she didn't look half bad in a pair of casual pants, like the ones Joanne usually wears to work. Glinda had also gotten new clothes -- she absolutely loved all of the stores that could be found in the village. Madame Menzel gave the girls enough money for necessities, but since the bohemians usually bought Elphaba and Glinda dinner, and Benny didn't charge them rent, the blond had a few extra dollars to spend.

Elphaba rarely got to leave the building, though. No one, including herself, wanted anyone to find out about her skin or where she was from. She would put on her cloak and gloves, go out to a library only God knows how far away from the building, check out some books, and return home. Glinda usually went out with Mimi during the day. In less than a week, Elphaba convinced Mimi to quit her job at the CatScratch. Roger, Angel, and Mark agreed with the green woman, so Mimi was now unemployed, and free to do whatever she wanted during the day. (Usually, her time was divided up between the whole group, Roger and Glinda.)

Elphaba and Mark, meanwhile, had agreed that they would still be part of a strong relationship, just less intimate. He came to her apartment almost every day, and they usually just talked. She told him stories of Shiz and, eventually, of how she broke up with Fiyero (he was too careless, sometimes, and seemed very ... Brainless. She neglected to mention that she found him "with" another girl from the honors society -- everyone called her Leanna -- one day, in the alley behind the main building at Shiz. She hadn't even told Glinda that). Mark explained, hesitantly, about his breakup with Maureen. Elphaba didn't seem to mind, though.

Sometimes he would show her clips of his footage. She loved to watch what was going on outside of the building. He had suggested that she bathed herself in the oils again, but she was afraid that they would wear off too quickly.

"I always explored when I was younger," she said one day. "My skin did not stop me at home. It's stopping me now, though, in a much freer world." She paused briefly. "Ironic," she added bitterly.

"Mmhmm," was his reply. She shrugged from her spot next to him, on the couch. She laid down and put her head in his lap, closing her eyes for a minute.

"Do you know where the girls went?" she asked, eyes still closed. He bent down to peck her on the lips. "I haven't seen Glinda since, maybe eleven. You?"

"No, I haven't seen Glinda," Mark said. He scratched his head, in thought. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen anybody today. Not even Roger. And I woke up at noon."

She sat up. "Noon? I hope everyone's alright..."

"We -- I could go look?" he suggested. Elphaba was going to respond, but then Mimi and Glinda walked into the apartment. They shut the door behind them quickly. Elphaba looked at them suspiciously and started for the door. Glinda sat her down on the couch forcefully.

"Mimi and I found someone today!" Glinda exclaimed gleefully. Mimi nodded. "We haven't seen this person in forever, and I thought that I'd stop him and make you say hello!"

Mimi scurried over to the door, and pulled it open.

There stood Fiyero.

xXxXxXx

Elphaba stood up, shoulders hunched, and pulled Mark to his feet as well. She grabbed onto Mark's hand, and pulled him quickly past Fiyero, towards the loft. As she ran up the stairs, Mark tugged her hand. She fell backwards and he caught her, holding her to him as she tried to run again. He could tell that she was holding some kind of emotion back: anger, fear, loss. He held her until she stopped pushing against him, and eventually fell limply on him.

"You can cry," he offered. She shook her head, burying her face in his chest. He rubbed the small of her back, then saw the same man from before at the bottom of the stairs. Mark gently pushed Elphaba off of him and directed her attention to the man. "Fae, who is that?"

The man heard this. "How do you know about that name?" He seemed angry as he ran up the steps. Elphaba stepped in front of Mark.

"Don't you even _think_ about touching one hair on his head," she growled. He stepped back a bit. "Why are you even here, Fiyero?" It all clicked in Mark's head. "What do you want? How did you even find me? Us?"

"I was sent here," he boasted. "Madame Menzel herself assigned me to come. I came to protect you."

"I don't need protection," she snapped. "What are you trying to protect me from, anyway? Why not go protect Leanna, hmm?"

A look of guilt immediately swept over Fiyero's face. He had no idea she knew about that. Mark was slowly putting two and two together, and wrapped a protective arm around Elphaba's waist. She continued to talk to Fiyero. "See this man right here? This is Mark. He loves me, and I love him." Mark couldn't help but smile. "So don't give me any more of your fucking crap."

Fiyero's anger began to get the best of him. He was sent to protect her -- to do her a favor. She wouldn't even except his generous offer! "You know what? It doesn't even matter, Elphaba. Go, be with your new boyfriend. Good riddance, you damned -- frog!"

She didn't even flinch. "Frog. You come find me, and then I get angry, which I have _every right to do_, and the best you can come up with is frog. You're even more pathetic now than you were back at Shiz."

With that, Fiyero turned on his heel and fled down the stairs. Mimi and Glinda caught him by the arms before he could leave the building completely. "I don't get it!" Glinda exclaimed, just as Elphaba and Mark began to walk down the stairs slowly. "I knew that you guys broke up, but why can't you at least act like civilized people?"

"WHY?" Elphaba roared. "You want to know why, Glinda? Fine, I'll tell you why! Because, he fucking cheated on me! With Leeana." By this time tears were threatening to fall, but she wouldn't let them. "Don't you remember her? She was in our Life Sciences class. The beautiful Winkie girl, with the glistening pink diamonds on her skin. Look, they've even rubbed off on him." Elphaba ripped the buttons on Fiyero's shirt to expose his stomach -- full of purple diamonds. "He thought I didn't know. He thought that I wouldn't find out, or be able to tell. But I did, Fiyero, I could. And you wouldn't admit it, either. I waited for three long weeks for you to tell me, and you never did." Her voice became quiet. "You pretended you had no idea what I was talking about when I confronted you." She turned to Glinda, her voice still low. "Is that a good enough answer for you?"

Glinda's mouth hung open. She released Fiyero and went over to her friend. The blond stood on her toes, and managed to wrap Elphaba in a hug. Elphaba's lanky arms squeezed her friend tightly. "Oh, Elphaba. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Does it look like it's easy for me to talk about, Glin?" She pulled away from her friend and looked around, realizing that Mimi had slipped upstairs, and Fiyero was standing in the doorway. She turned away from him, back to Glinda, and hugged her, resting her head in the crook of the small woman's neck. Glinda soon felt it getting wet with her friend's tears. She simply wrapped her small arms around Elphaba's waist, placed her head on the green woman's shoulder, and soothed her.

By this time, Mimi had returned with Collins and had him filled in on Elphaba's side of the story. He was at the loft, waiting for Mark. The philosopher had grown to respect Elphaba, and decided something should be done about this guy.

"Hey, you," Collins said in a deep, menacing growl. Fiyero turned around, looking somewhat petrified. "Yeah, I'm talkin' to ya. Why'd you do it?"

"W-w-What?" Fiyero stuttered.

"Don't you play dumb with me, boy." Collins began advancing towards Fiyero, causing the Winkie Prince to back up into Elphaba's apartment. "You know what you did. Were you smokin' somethin' when it happened? Was it all a mistake? C'mon, boy, you better say give me an answer before I gotta beat it out of you."

"Sweet Oz, Collins, don't hurt him." Elphaba had wiped away her tears before any serious damage was done to her skin, then untangled herself from Glinda's tight hug. She stepped over to Collins and put a hand on his shoulder. "I could have done that myself. But thanks for getting him a little freaked out."

"Anything for you, Babygirl."

Elphaba smiled and squeezed his shoulder. She then turned back to Fiyero, exasperated. "Now, why did you say you were here?"

"I didn't, you were too busy reprimanding me," Fiyero snapped.

"I had every right to!" she cried. "Do you have a smart-ass remark for that, too?"

"No," he mumbled. "I really should apologize."

"No shit," Collins quipped.

"I don't know why I did it," Fiyero admitted. "I would see her and then sparks would fly." Elphaba's face fell. Fiyero mentally kicked himself. "I know you're thinking that I meant sparks didn't fly with you. They did, and that's not why I went with her. It was like she was a drug. I wanted to stop seeing her, but I couldn't."

"You wanted to?" Elphaba's voice cracked. "Or you're just saying that to get on my good side?"

"No, I'm serious, Elphaba." There wasn't a hint of sarcasm lining Fiyero's voice. "She had the shallowest personality. No brains at all. She would drag me into the bedroom then kick me out. Yet, something about those pink diamonds... They were hypnotizing."

"Oh," Elphaba whispered hoarsely.

"So, erm, Fiyero. Why did you come?" Mark was desperately trying to help his girlfriend out of the awkward situation she was stuck in. "Tell us ... We're, uh, curious." Then to Mimi, "Help me out here."

Collins looked over to Fiyero. "Tell us."

Fiyero jumped. "Elphaba, Glinda, I suppose you remember Madame Morrible, hmm?" He received a nod from each girl. "Of course. Well, she had a daughter some years ago, then her daughter had a daughter. Basically, Morrible's granddaughter is somewhere roaming around Oz, and she's taken to her grandmother's ways."

"Oh my," Glinda breathed.

"But why'd you come here?" Mimi asked. "You said that this evil chick is roaming around Oz. Not here."

Fiyero hesitated. "That's the thing. She can change her appearance ... She claims it's her specialty. All of Oz is on the lookout, but if she poses as a student and somehow gets her hands on the spell that can transport one into this world ... Oz only knows what kind of damage this girl can do."

"Well what does she want, then?" Collins asked, lighting a joint. Elphaba suddenly grew pale and wide-eyed.

"She's looking for me."


	16. Author's Note

**LISTEN UP, PEOPLE! IMPORTANT NEWS HERE!**

ok. So here's the deal. I am COMPLETELY out of inspiration for this story. It's gonna take a little break until:

1. I think of more creative things to write about, and

2. I have more time to write.

If anyone stops reading because of this, all I can say is that I'm sorry. I'm juggling too many stories at one time, and I think that this is the one that's gonna be postponed.

I promise that I'll try to update as soon as I can.

--notEASYbeingGREEN


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm back! I know that just about no one's reading this thing, but I still updated it. I'm going back to it full-time now. I hope you like this chapter. The next one should be up soon-ish. Please read and review!**_  
_

_"She's looking for me."_

"I'm not surprised you figured it out," Fiyero said. Elphaba simply ignored him. "Elphaba, I know what I did was wrong. _Believe me_, I know. And I apologize." He still got no response. "Listen, I'm not saying that we have to become close friends now, but just bear with me until this mess is over. Please?"

"I think you should, Elphaba," Glinda said quietly. "If this girl is as powerful as everyone's saying she is, then I think we need all the protection we can get."

"Well then why the hell did they only send him?" Collins asked, pointing to Fiyero.

"Oh, be quiet, you," Glinda scolded. "And put that out." She took the joint from his lips and mashed it under her shoe.

"Now why'd you have to go and do that?" Collins grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Would you all just be QUIET so I can _think_?!" Elphaba sat down on the steps, placing her head in her hands. She stayed like that for a good long time, taking in what was happening.

"Should we leave you alone for a little while?" Mimi asked gently. Elphaba nodded slightly, not looking up. "Why don't you go on into your apartment, and meet us upstairs when you're ready."

"I have to go with her," Fiyero reminded everyone.

"Oh no you don't," Collins growled. He grabbed Fiyero's arm and yanked him upstairs, Glinda hot on their heels. Mark hung back until Collins yelled, "_Mark_! Get your ass up here and give your woman some time to _think_!"

Mark quickly placed a hand on Elphaba's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "I love you."

"I- I've never heard you say that before," she said quietly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "You have no idea how much better it made me feel."

"Glad I could help," Mark murmured, closing the gap between their lips. Elphaba kissed him hungrily. When their brains were in desperate need of oxygen, Mark pulled away. "You want me to come downstairs with you?"

Elphaba shook her head. "This is something I need to sort out by myself. But I'll see you later. If I'm not up there in at least an hour, come down and get me, please."

"Of course," Mark replied, scurrying up the stairs to give Elphaba time to think in private.

-

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Mark walked down the stairs of his building slowly, cradling a mug of tea in his hands. He arrived at the door to Elphaba's small apartment, but stopped himself from knocking when he heard faint mumbling coming from inside.

"A-tuhm-al-do-ha-sa… Sweet Lurline, how does it _work_?!"

"Fae, are you alright?" he called. When he received no answer from her, he began to worry. "I'm going to come in," he said, and pushed the door open.

He found Elphaba sitting on the floor, legs tucked underneath her, writing into a notebook as fast as her hand would let her. He set the tea down in front of her and sat down with her. He waited until she finished, then took her hand.

"I got worried," he said. "Are you okay?"

"You're seriously asking me that right now?" she asked, smirking slightly in spite of herself. He rolled his eyes - typical, sarcastic Elphaba. She noticed the tea and took a long, grateful sip. "Thanks. You make the best tea."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"About your tea-making skills? Well, I mean, we could, but don't you think that -"

"Elphaba," he said quietly. "You know what I mean."

She sighed. "She could be anywhere … any_one_. And if I can just figure this out, then I'd be able to -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He pulled her up and walked her to the bed, sitting her down firmly. "You need to slow down. If you can figure what out?"

"This damned spell!" Elphaba cried, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Mark patiently waited for her to explain the rest of … whatever she was going to say. "I've told you about my book, haven't I?"

Mark vaguely remembered this. She referred to this book as her book, or sometimes as the Grimmerie, and it wasn't just a simple novel. She never showed it to him, but she told him about the text - it was written in a language that almost no one - not even her sometimes - could understand. She described what it could do to anyone. He nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"Lately I've been having strange dreams, Mark." She took more tea, the mug shaking in her hands. "I'm usually in dark, foggy woods, alone. I'm reading spells from the book, and when I finish, the fog clears and the sun comes out. Then, usually, Madame Menzel comes around, congratulating me, but I can never really hear the exact words she uses."

"How is that strange?" Mark asked, genuinely curious.

"Leeana always comes around, right when she's praising me," Elphaba whispered. "She's hurt. Fiyero isn't there with her, but she's moaning his name. I - she's covered in blood, and as I try to read the spell again to help her, she just backs away. Madame Menzel won't help her either … I don't understand," she cried, throwing the tea down and collapsing into Mark's arms.

She clung to him, and he stroked her hair gently. He laid down on the bed, pulling her on top of him. As she held on, he whispered comforting words into her ears.

"You'll figure this out, Elphaba. You have the IQ of… I don't know, something really smart -" Elphaba could help but laugh, "-and you have people around here that love you and care about you." She lifted her head, her eyes met his. "We'll help you, okay?"

Numbly, she nodded, laying her head on his chest. Soon, her breathing evened out, and she was asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Mark draped his arms over her waist and fell asleep himself, hoping that Elphaba would be able to figure this mess out soon.

-

Later that night, Glinda was walking down the stairs with Fiyero, who was supposed to stay in their apartment. At all costs, she avoided conversation with him. She quietly unlocked their door and stepped inside, only to find Mark and Elphaba asleep, and a broken tea mug on the floor.

She shook her head, chuckling quietly. "You can sleep on the couch," she told Fiyero quietly. "There are spare blankets and pillows in the closet, and I trust it won't take much exploring to find the bathroom in here. I'm going to change and go to bed. Good night, Master Fiyero."

"'Night, Glinda," Fiyero replied quietly. He sank on the couch, looking back at Elphaba and Mark. Her head was nestled in the crook of his neck, his arms wrapped protectively around her waist. They both had content expressions on their faces.

Fiyero sighed. He hoped he would be able to stay around her without jealousy arising. Only time would tell._  
_


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I'm back :) I really thank you all for still reading this thing. -dodges flying objects- Here's another chapter … the story should be coming to a close pretty soon. I have the whole thing planned out and my outlines written … I just need to type 'em on up :)**

Fiyero was still very awkward around Elphaba and Glinda, even though they had been living in the same house for almost a month. Elphaba avoided him as much as she could, still struggling with her strange dreams. To support her friend, Glinda did the same.

Mark was not at all jealous of Fiyero. In fact, having him around helped Mark to believe that Elphaba did, in fact, love him. She spent even more time with him, and she often stayed in his apartment all day, keeping him company.

Both Ozian girls still had strong bonds with all of the bohemians. Glinda often went out with the girls: Angel, Maureen and Mimi. Friday night was their Girls' Night Out, where they would have dinner, she a movie, then do whatever they pleased. Mostly, though, they shopped. Joanne found the green girl's company much more interesting, though, and she would usually stay with her and Mark. All three of them formed a close friendship very quickly.

Collins was still extremely angry towards Fiyero. Said Winkie Prince tried to hit on Angel when she first introduced herself to him. Ever since then, the professor was even more grumpy whenever Fiyero was around. Roger didn't even like him. All of the bohemians were on Elphaba's side.

-  
-  
Joanne was on her way to Elphaba's apartment, bringing dinner on a Friday night, when she heard shouting. As she neared the apartment, she could make out the voices: a male and a female. One obviously belonged to Elphaba. _Is she fighting with Mark?_ Joanne wondered.

She placed her ear against the door and heard that the other voice belonged to Fiyero. Knowing that Elphaba was mad, Joanne swung the door open. The lawyer didn't even bother to think about what she would say or do to calm her friend down, all she knew was that Fiyero's life was probably at stake.

She saw Elphaba in a furious rage, throwing Fiyero's things around, spitting horrible words at him with each item she flung. Fiyero was trying (and failing) to calm her down, and frequently ducking behind the couch to avoid getting hit.

"Elphaba, stop!" Joanne called, rushing over to her friend and wrapping her arms around Elphaba's tall, lanky body. Elphaba struggled, but when she realized she couldn't get out of Joanne's grasp, she tensed and turned to Fiyero, giving him a death glare.

"Joanne, thank _Oz_ you're here," Fiyero said, out of breath. "She's been throwing things at me, nearly knocking me to the ground at times, and -"

Elphaba cackled. "I would have done so much more if she hadn't showed up. You deserve to get a lot of illegal things done to you, you bastard."

Joanne rolled her eyes. She told the shell-shocked Fiyero to lie down for a little while, and led Elphaba up to Mark's apartment, where they were all supposed to have dinner together. Sure enough, Mark was up there waiting, reading the Village Voice, with three mismatched plates set on the coffee table. When he realized that Elphaba and Joanne were in the apartment, he got up to greet them. He leaned in to kiss Elphaba, but she just stalked past him, plopping on the couch and serving herself some of the food that she took from Joanne earlier.

"Elphaba?" Mark asked almost shyly. She looked up at him, her face gloomy. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Just leave me alone, please."

"Oh." Mark's voice was somewhat hurt. He sat down, serving himself and Joanne food. "Well, whenever you're ready…"

The trio ate in silence. Mark and Joanne were exchanging thoughts without words:

_What happened?_ The concern was evident on Mark's face.

Joanne shrugged. _I have no idea._

_Is she okay?_ Mark stole a glance at Elphaba, who was pretending to be too wrapped up in her food to notice him.

Joanne shrugged.

Mark scowled. _You're useless._

Elphaba sighed loudly, shooting Joanne and Mark a glare. Their eyes fell to the floor. "Do you really want to know that much?" Elphaba asked, exasperated.

"Know what?" Maureen asked, coming into the loft along with Glinda, Mimi and Angel. They were just coming from the movies, and reeked of the outside world.

"Know what?" Maureen repeated. All eyes were on Elphaba.

Glinda knew Elphaba well, and she immediately realized that the usual spark in her friend's eyes was dimmer, and was replaced by a look of worry. She sat gracefully and gave Elphaba's hand a squeeze. This prompted the green girl to explain what she had been sulking about.

"You all know about how Fiyero cheated on me a while back, right?" she asked, trying not to show any emotion but failed when her voice cracked. "The girl's name was… is Leeana…"

"Is?" Angel asked.

"Is," Elphaba confirmed wearily. "He's been keeping in touch with her all this time."Glinda gasped. "Oh Elphie."

Angel enveloped Elphaba in a hug. Elphaba didn't protest. It was when everyone began fussing over her that she finally pulled away.

"Listen, don't worry about my feelings or any of that crap. Fiyero and I are over, and have been over for a good long time." She sighed. "The only thing that I am worried about is the fact he's been keeping in contact with her, telling her all about this place. _No one_ was supposed to know about Glinda and I being here."

"_Damn_," Collins said, walking into the loft with Roger. "Should I give that boy a talkin' to? Bastard won't know what hit him…" Angel deliberately smacked her lover upside the head. "Ang, that hurt!"

"Not as much as Fiyero's gonna hurt when I get to him," Maureen said. "No one jeopardizes my friends', um, staying here-ness."

Elphaba snorted. "Look, guys, I appreciate the fact that you'd love to maim my ex. Really, I'm touched. But I think the only thing to do now is talk to Madame Menzel…"

Mark realized that Elphaba really was going to go to her headmistress, and pulled her aside to talk to her.

"Why don't you tell her about your dreams," he suggested. Elphaba nodded slowly, and gave him a hug. When she was finished, she yanked Glinda by the arm and ran to their apartment.

- _Elphaba and Glinda's Apartment_

"I left the Grimmerie. Of _all things_ I could have left in Oz, I had to leave the fucking Grimmerie." Elphaba had been storming around the small loft for almost half an hour, looking for her beloved Grimmerie. Glinda was helping speedily, but neither girl was able to uncover the special book.

"Well how are we supposed to contact her now?" Elphaba cried. She plopped down on the bed, head in her hands. "Mfhsmp."

Glinda suppressed a giggle. "I can't understand you at all, you know."

"I said we're screwed!" Elphaba roared. She sighed. "I mean, I'm clueless without that damned book. What's Madame Menzel gonna do, hmm? Just puff up from a cloud of smoke?"

Glinda's eyes widened. "That's what she did last time, isn't it?!" She laughed joyously, somewhat hysterically. "Elphaba, that is what she did last time! Elphie, do you hear this? She's watching us, remember? Don't you remember? Oh, Elphaba, this is just fantastic! Isn't it fantastic, Elphie?!"

Elphaba eyed her friend suspiciously. "Maureen gave you caffeine, didn't she?"

"Just a little, but that's besides the point." Glinda tilted her head up to look at the ceiling. "Oh Madame! Do you hear me, Madame? I hope you do. Fiyero just told Elphie that he's been keeping in touch with Leeana… can you believe him?! Well, anyway, if you can hear me, would you mind poofing on over here? We could use some assistance."

When nothing happened, Elphaba snickered. Glinda sighed and went back to looking for the Grimmerie.

-

-  
About a week later, Elphaba caught a bug - everyone thought she had a cold. Ever since she failed to contact Madame Menzel, she had been upset, extremely exhausted, and talked to the group less and less - she even shied away from Glinda.

One night, Elphaba decided against going to dinner with everyone - she didn't want to get anybody sick. For the sake of her friends, she huddled up under the blankets on her small bed and read a book. Fiyero sat on the couch twiddling his thumbs awkwardly.

"You don't have to stay here, you know," Elphaba said bitterly.

"Yes I do," he argued. "Madame Menzel told me that-"

"Oh, fuck Madame Menzel," Elphaba grumbled. "If she really wanted to help me out then she would have listened to Glinda and come here when we needed her before. Now I'm stuck in a crappy apartment with you, and I feel awful."

Fiyero sighed. "Do you want anything, Fae-Fae?" he asked, using the nickname out of habit

"Don't call me that," she snapped. He put his head in his hands. Her face softened. "Some water would be nice," she said softly.

He quickly got her the water, and she gulped it down greedily. "My stomach has been killing me… I feel so disgusting."

"You're not disgusting, Elphaba," Fiyero said genuinely. "You're beautiful."

She snorted. "Don't lie to me."

"It's not lying," he said. "It's looking at things in another wa-"

"You've tried that line on me before, you know," she smirked. "Listen, Fiyero, I know…" Her face contorted. "Ow." Her hand flew to her stomach. "I need to go -" She sprung up and ran to the bathroom, and Fiyero winced as he heard the sound of vomiting.

"Do you need help?" he asked.

"Get Mark," she moaned. He heard more gagging sounds.

"What?" he asked, confused. "I offer you help and you ask me to go get someone else?"

"Please?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She sounded so vulnerable… he felt bad for making her wait.

"I'll be right back," he promised, and slipped outside.

Mark ran into the bathroom about ten minutes later. He opened his arms, surrounding Elphaba in a tight embrace. She leaned heavily on him. "I don't know what's wrong with me," she whispered.

"It's probably just a cold," Mark said, rubbing her back.

"I've had colds before, and I've never been nauseous like this." She paled. "Oh Sweet Lurline above. When was the last time that we… you know… with each other?"

"What? Elphaba, what do you mean?" She made a hand gesture. "Oh. Oh. Oh my God. Um… Jesus, I don't know."

Elphaba quickly stood up, pulling Mark to his feet as well. She scurried to her calendar, scanning it quickly. "I haven't gotten my period this month."

"Oh God. Not again," Mark groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Elphaba was silent, thinking it over. A smile tugged at Elphaba's lips. _Maybe it wouldn't be so bad._ She could tell Mark was nervous, though, so she put a pout on. "This is all I need right now. I'm in a strange world that I know virtually nothing about, Fiyero has been telling his girlfriend that I'm here, he's jeopardized mine and Glinda's safety, I have no clue where Madame Menzel is, I've been having strange dreams, and to top it all of, I might be pregnant!"

Just then, a mouse scurried along the floor. Mark and Elphaba looked at each other and smiled.

Mark dove for it, picked it up, and placed it on the bed. As Madame Menzel turned back into her human form, Elphaba breathed a sigh of relief.

-

Madame Menzel called all of the resident Ozians into a private meeting.

"Glinda, you like this new world?" Madame Menzel chuckled, observing the young girl's attire: a pear of jeans, a low-cut tank top, and a light jacket. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and on her feet were a pair of high heels to match her jacket.

Glinda smiled. "Yes, ma'am. I love the people… and the stores!"

Madame Menzel nodded. "On a much more serious note, though, Elphaba? Are you really not sure if you're pregnant or not?" Glinda's eyes widened, but she kept her mouth shut. "You're a smart girl, Elphaba. You've gone through this scare once before. Do you really not know?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Elphaba said honestly. "But, you know, I don't think it would be a bad thing if I was pregnant. I fully trust Mark."

"That's not what I'm worried about, though," Madame Menzel explained. "It would be just fine if you were pregnant Elphaba. If it's something that you chose, then I'll fully support you."

"Thank you, Madame," Elphaba said confusedly. "And I've also been meaning to talk to you about a strange dream that I've been having…"

"I know," Madame Menzel said. "I may have an answer for you."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow.

"We have located Madame Morrible's granddaughter. She has been transforming herself into a student at Shiz." The headmistress sighed. "Elphaba, you've been having this dream because she has, in fact, been transforming into a Winkie girl." Fiyero choked on his water. "Her name is Leeana."

**A/N: I am so sorry that I haven't updated in … um… forever-ish? Well I don't have an excuse. I completely forgot about this story! If anyone's still reading it, THANK YOU!!  
**

**Also, do you guys know how there's an online audition at where if you win, you can be in the show? I didn't enter (I can't sing), but there's a fantastic woman who did named Shannon O'Brien, and she's trying out for the part of Maureen. Everyone, PLEASE GO VOTE FOR HER!!!! **

Basically, you go to siteforrent(dot)com, click interactive, click online audition, click vote, then scroll down and vote for** Shannon O'Brien!!! **(ff won't let me post the link, sorry.)

**vote for her! Thanks for reading this!!!!**


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